The Central Statistics Office has revealed that overseas tourism is continuing on its upward trajectory as more visitors come to these shores to holiday.
The number of overseas trips to Ireland by non-residents increased from 1.531 million in Quarter 1 2015 to 1.785 million trips in Quarter 1 2016 (+16.6%), while the number of nights spent in Ireland by overseas travellers increased by 16.2% in Quarter 1 2016 compared with the same period of the previous year, up from 10.0 million to 11.6 million.
The CSO figures show that the average duration of overseas trips to Ireland was 6.5 nights in Q1 2016, the same as during the same period the previous year.
Total tourism and travel earnings from overseas travellers to Ireland increased by 18.7% between Q1 2015 and Q1 1 2016, increasing from €780 million to €926 million. When fares are excluded, total expenditure increased from €590 million to €693 million, an increase of 17.5% over the period.
