Irish people are taking more but shorter holidays at home and abroad, with increasing numbers preferring to stay in their second homes, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures, writes Marie O'Halloran
In the first three months of 2006 there was an increase of 20 per cent in domestic holiday trips, while international holiday trips rose by 18 per cent compared to the same period last year.
And expenditure on domestic trips rose by 16 per cent and 18 per cent on international trips.
After the UK, Spain continued to be the favourite destination for all international trips, followed by France and then North America.
Trips to other European destinations, South and Central America and Africa also increased, according to the figures from the CSO's quarterly Household Travel Survey.
The number of nights spent in "own holiday homes" in Ireland rose by 21 per cent, while bed nights in all other accommodation in Ireland dropped, with the most dramatic fall - of 28 per cent - in guest house/bed and breakfast accommodation.
There was a 1 per cent drop in bed nights spent in hotels and conference centres while the total number of bed nights spent on domestic trips fell by 11 per cent.
The latest household travel survey, published yesterday, also shows that between January and March this year, the number of trips to second homes abroad rose from 29,000 to 53,000.
In long-term trends there has been a "very dramatic rise" in the number of trips to and nights spent in holiday homes abroad owned by Irish citizens, according CSO statistician Niall O'Hanlon.
Mr O'Hanlon pointed out that "there were 639,000 nights in own holiday homes abroad in 2001. This has almost quadrupled to 2,369,000 nights in 2005".
Trips to the UK rose by 20,000 in the first quarter of this year to 457,000 compared to 2005, remaining the most visited destination.
However Spain continues to be the favourite destination on the Continent with 234,000 trips in the first quarter, well ahead of the next favourite, France, with 131,000 trips. North America, including the US and Canada, was next with 111,000 trips.
Spending on domestic holidays rose 31 per cent from €91.5 million to €119.9 million on the same period in 2005. Overall spending on all domestic trips grew by 16 per cent from €187.7 million to €217.4 million. In comparison Irish people spent €1.117 billion on trips abroad, up by 18 per cent from €949.1 million.
Mr O'Hanlon said the time spent in second homes in the State had shown consistent growth in the four-year period from 1.4 million nights in 2001 to 2.2 million nights in 2005.
The overall length of stay on domestic trips averaged out at 2.5 nights while the average stay in EU destinations was 6.5 nights and 10.3 nights in North America in the first quarter of 2006.
International trips to visit family and friends showed a significant 26 per cent rise while domestic trips to friends and relatives dropped 12 per cent.