Irish residents spent a total of 36.7 million nights on domestic trips in 2024, an 8.2% increase compared with 2023.
The Southern region was the most popular domestic destination for overnight trips in 2024, accounting for 43% of all trips.
In 2024, Irish residents took 13.7 million outbound overnight trips, totalling 81.2 million bed nights.
In Quarter 4 (Q4) 2024, Irish residents spent 7.8 million nights on domestic trips, a 7.6% increase from Q4 2023.
Outbound overnight travel in Q4 2024 saw 3.2 million trips taken by Irish residents, up 10.1% from the same period in 2023.
The Household Travel Survey is carried out by CSO to measure national tourism (i.e. domestic and outbound tourism by Irish residents) and this release contains estimates of the numbers of domestic and outbound overnight trips and same day visits made by Irish residents.
Statistics on foreign visitors to Ireland are sourced from the CSO Passenger Survey, which is carried out at Irish airports and seaports, and presented in the Inbound Tourism series. Note that the Inbound Tourism series does not capture data on residents of Northern Ireland.
To gain a better understanding of internal tourism in Ireland (i.e. both domestic and inbound tourism), users should refer to both Household Travel Survey (for domestic travel data) and Inbound Tourism (for inbound visitor data), noting that at present figures for residents of Northern Ireland are not included in either series.
In Q4 2024, the main reason for taking domestic overnight trips was to visit friends and relatives (46%), followed by holiday purposes (36%). Travel for business purposes made up 8% of total domestic overnight trips.
In Q4 2024, the main accommodation type reported for domestic overnight trips was Friends/Relatives in 44% of trips, while Hotels were the main accommodation type in 42% of trips.
In Q4 2024, more than two-fifths of domestic overnight trips were taken in the Southern NUTS2 region (44%), while the Eastern and Midland, and the Northern and Western regions made up 36% and 20% respectively.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (20 March 2025) published Household Travel Survey Quarter 4 and Year 2024.
Commenting on the release, Aaron Costello, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said: “These figures provide information on domestic and outbound travel by Irish residents in the months of October, November, and December (Q4) 2024 and the full year results for 2024.
Domestic Trips Q4 2024
In Q4 2024, the number of nights spent on domestic overnight trips was 7.6% higher than in the same period of 2023. Visits to friends or relatives accounted for the largest share of total domestic nights at 49%, followed by holiday trips (34%). Business travel represented 5% of all overnight stays.
The most popular region visited by Irish residents on overnight trips in Q4 2024 was the Southern region (Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry), accounting for 1.8 million trips. The Northern and Western region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) had the least number of domestic overnight trips (0.8 million trips).
Outbound Trips Q4 2024
In Q4 2024, Irish residents spent a total of 16.9 million nights on outbound trips. Most of these nights spent on outbound trips were for holiday purposes (51%), or visits to friends or relatives (36%). Business travel accounted for 6% of all outbound nights.
The total number of outbound trips in Q4 2024 increased by 10.1% compared with the same period in 2023. The average length of stay for outbound trips was 5.3 nights, down from 5.7 nights in Q4 of the previous year.
Full Year 2024 Results
During 2024, domestic travel accounted for 16.6 million trips, resulting in 36.7 million nights. This was up 8.2% compared with 2023. Meanwhile, Irish residents made 13.7 million outbound trips in 2024, generating 81.2 million nights.”