More than two million trips abroad taken from April to June

More than two million trips abroad were taken by Irish residents in the second quarter of this year, an increase of almost 4 per cent on the same time in 2015.

Nearly €1.6 billion was spent on outbound trips in the three-month period, of which over €938 million was spent on holidays, €281.2 million on business trips and almost €210 million on visiting friends and relatives.

Over €2.8 billion has been spent on trips abroad in the first six months, compared to a little over €2.5 billion in the same six months of 2015.

Central Statistics Office (CSO)figures show the UK and Spain were the two most popular destinations in terms of trip numbers at 518,000 and 516,000 respectively in the second quarter.

Irish residents travelling abroad in the second three months of the year availed of some 14.1 million bed nights, with the average length of stay at seven nights.

Visitors staying in hotel accommodation accounted for 5.1 million nights, while those staying in self catering/rented house accounted for over 3.6 million nights.

Holidays accounted for 58 per cent of all outbound trips, while a fifth (20.2 per cent) were for the purpose of visiting friends or relatives, the CSO said.

In the six months to the end of June this year, there was a 7.6 per cent increase in outbound trips by Irish residents when compared with the same period in 2015.

The number of trips to other EU countries was up 9 per cent in the first six months of this year, while the number of trips taken by Irish residents to North America remained static.

Domestic travel

On the domestic travel front, Irish residents took two million internal trips during the quarter, a decrease of 6.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The CSO said each trip had an average duration of 2.4 nights, resulting in almost 4.9 million bed nights.

It noted that Easter fell in the first quarter this year, which had shifted the usual quarterly pattern of travel.

The first three months of the year saw an increase in domestic trips of 19.5 per cent while the number of such trips fell in the second quarter.

Holidays accounted for 52.6 per cent of all domestic trips, while 29.8 per cent were to visit friends or relatives.

Total expenditure on domestic trips from April to June this year was €366 million.

More than €225 million of this was accounted for by those on holidays, while those visiting friends or relatives spent almost €54 million.

The number of domestic trips in the first six months of 2016 is up by 5 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.