Background Notes

Periodicity

Single survey period - April 2021.

Scope

Domestic and Outbound travel which involve overnight trips, and associated variables, of all residents aged 18 years and over of the Republic of Ireland. 

Coverage

All private households.

Purpose

The purpose of the Intention to Travel Survey is to measure the impact of COVID-19 on domestic and outbound travel plans involving overnight trips and including associated details (purpose of trip, type of accommodation used etc.) of Irish residents aged 18 years and over. 

Data Collection

The Intention to Travel Survey was carried out in April 2021 under Section 24 of the Statistics Act, 1993. Participation was voluntary.

Over 14,000 Irish households (approximately 1% of all households) were randomly selected from the CSO Household Register to participate in an electronic survey, which asked a number of questions about upcoming travel plans in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Overseas.  The survey also requested information on any overnight travel plans cancelled due to COVID-19 since March 2020.

Each household received a letter inviting one person over the age of 18, selected using the next birthday selection method, to participate in the survey. No information was collected on any other household member.

Overall, 2,294 responses were received, giving an effective response rate of 16.4%.

Grossing

A two stage grossing and calibration process was used to make the respondents representative of the entire relevant population.  Firstly, the number of respondents was aggregated using the household by NUTS 3 region totals from the CSO household register for Q1 2021.  Next these weights were calibrated to sum to the population for Q12021 for region and gender by age classes for those aged 18 years and over, using CALMAR2.

Definitions

Overnight Trip

An overnight trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip.  A trip is made up of visits to different places.  Only trips which are not part of regular travel and involve at least one overnight stay away from home are included in the Intention to Travel Survey.

Domestic Trip

A domestic trip refers to travel in the Republic of Ireland.

Outbound Trip

An outbound trip refers to any travel outside the Republic of Ireland.  For the Intention to Travel Survey outbound trips were separated into Northern Ireland and Overseas (which refers to all destinations outside of the island of Ireland).

Rounding

Individual percentages have been rounded independently and the sum of the component items therefore may not necessarily add to the total.

NUTS Regions

The regional classification used in the Intention to Travel Survey is based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) 2016 classification. The composition of the regions is set out in the table below: