Small drop in overseas visitors

The number of overseas visitors to Ireland fell by 0.2 per cent in the three months April as arrivals from North America decreased by 7.2 per cent.

The drop of 13,800 in North American visitors, to a total of 178,400, was partly offset by a 14.5 per cent year on year spike in the number of visitors from other areas (everywhere except Britain, Europe and North America) to 72,000.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that a total of 1.4 million people visited Ireland in February, March and April, an overall decrease of 2,700 on the same period last year.

Visits from residents of Britain increased by 0.3 per cent to 653,100 in the three month period, while the number of visitors from other European countries was unchanged from the corresponding period in 2011 at 497,700.

The number of Irish residents leaving the State also fell in the quarter to just under 1.36 million, a 1.1 per cent decrease on the same period last year.