Trips to Ireland by overseas visitors up almost 8%

There were 164,300 more visits to Ireland from overseas in the third quarter of this year than in the same period last year - a rise of nearly 8 per cent.

Trips by residents of North America increased by 13.6 per cent to 415,000, overseas travel figures published by the Central Statistics Office show.

In the period from July to September, the total number of trips to Ireland was up by 7.8 per cent.

The number of trips by residents of European countries other than Britain was up by 1.2 per cent to 786,200 while trips to Ireland from other areas were up by 24.5 per cent to 155,000.

Visits by residents of Britain were up 9 per cent to 904,700, according to the CSO.

During the same quarter, the total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents increased by 1.5 per cent to 2,032,600.

In all, from January to September, the total number of trips to Ireland was up by 6.4 per cent to 5,405,700.

The total number of trips (trips by Irish residents abroad plus trips by overseas visitors to Ireland) in the third quarter increased by 4.7 per cent to 4,293,500.

This compares with an annual drop of 0.3 per cent in the total number of trips taken in the third quarter last year, compared to the same period the previous year.