Trips abroad by Irish residents fell by 12 per cent between July and September compared to the same period last year. It is the first time in 18 years that overseas travel has dropped year-on-year in the third quarter.
Tourism and travel statistics published by the Central Statistics Office reveal that trips for holiday and leisure showed the greatest decline, at 279,000 or 17 per cent. Visits to friends and relatives increased by 3 per cent, however.
In total, there were 2,137,000 visits abroad by Irish residents in the quarter.
The CSO figures also show a 12 per cent decrease in the number of trips made to Ireland during the same three-month period.
There were 2,177,000 visits to Ireland from overseas between July and September compared with 2,472,000 in the same period of 2008. Trips for business purposes decreased by 24 per cent while trips visiting friends/relatives increased by 7 per cent.
The largest decrease in the number of overseas visits to Ireland was by British residents, with the numbers down by 17 per cent.
The number of visits by residents of other European countries decreased by 10 per cent while visits by residents of US and Canada remained “virtually unchanged” from the same period last year, the CSO said.
In terms of spending, there was a net outflow of €691 million for the quarter.
Earnings from visitors to Ireland accounted for €1.321 billion while expenditure by Irish visitors abroad amounted to €2.012 billion.