The number of trips abroad undertaken by Irish people rose 16 per cent in the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period last year, while domestic travel, or so-called “staycations”, fell out of favour.
New data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) also shows that the amount of time spent abroad fell in the same period.
Between January and March, 2.9 million trips were taken, with an estimated €2.2 billion spent. The trips lasted an average of 4.7 nights, down from 5.2 nights on average last year.
The data indicates a continuation of the broader trend, which has seen an increase in foreign travel over at least each of the last four quarters.
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In the most recent quarter, most trips (53 per cent) were classified as holidays, while about a third (36 per cent) were visits to family and friends, and 5 per cent were for business. Trips to Northern Ireland are included in the data as outbound tourism.
However, Irish residents took 2.8 million domestic trips between January and March, an 8 per cent drop on the same period in 2024.
The more popular domestic destinations were in the south of the country, encompassing all of Munster and counties Kilkenny and Carlow, which saw just over a million trips in total.
Trips to the northern and western part of the State – counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon – were least popular, accounting for 767,000.
Almost half (46 per cent) of such trips were to visit family and friends, and a third (34 per cent) for holidays. Staying with family or friends proved to be a slightly more popular option than hotels, at 43 and 42 per cent respectively.
Rented or self-catering properties, similar to Airbnb, accounted for 5 per cent of domestic accommodation.
