Recent figures have highlighted a significant increase in travel movement by Irish residents both domestically and internationally in this year’s first quarter, in comparison to the same timeframe in 2023.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released data revealing three million overnight domestic trips were taken during January, February and March, a 17% rise from the previous year’s first quarter. Concurrently, an increase of 21% accompanied overseas travel by Irish residents.
Spending on domestic overnight trips jumped up 19% during this period, accumulating to an impressive total of €576 million. Among those polled, it was found that 48% took these domestic trips primarily to visit relatives or friends, while holidays were the motive for 36%. Business reasons inspired 6% of these trips.
In terms of spending, holiday-goers accounted for €327 million, while visitor spending on family or friends reached €150 million.
The region that includes Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry remained the top choice, with 1.3 million trips. On the other hand, the region consisting of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon saw the lowest visitor numbers, with 800,000 trips.
Furthermore, Irish residents embarked on 2.5 million overnight trips abroad, with over half of these journeys aimed at EU countries, according to the CSO quarterly survey. The majority of these trips, 61%, were taken for holidaying purposes. Visits made to relatives or friends accounted for 21% of the total, and 9% pertained to business travels.