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Inbound Tourism July 2023

Over 650,200 foreign resident overnight visitors departed Ireland in July 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-6747
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • Of the 650,200 foreign resident overnight visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023, 37.0% of the visitors were from Great Britain, 21.7% were from the United States and 6.9% were from Germany.

  • The visitors most frequent reason (45.0%) for visiting Ireland was for holiday or leisure purposes.

  • The foreign resident visitors stayed a total of 5,643,800 nights in the country.

  • The total estimated expenditure of foreign resident overnight visitors on their trips to Ireland was €875.4 million.

  • The foreign resident overnight visitors stayed on average 8.7 nights and spent on average €1,346 on their trips. 

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (04 October 2023) released Inbound Tourism July 2023. 

Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said: “The results show that among the 2,177,200 passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023, some 650,200 (29.9%) were foreign resident overnight visitors completing their trips (with the balance being Irish residents heading abroad (58.7%) and foreign resident same-day visitors (11.4%)).  Amongst the 650,200 foreign resident overnight visitors some 37.0% were from Great Britain, 21.7% were from the United States and 6.9% were from Germany.

Typically, their visit lasted 8.7 nights. Their most frequent reason for visiting was for holiday or leisure purposes (45.0%). More of the visitors stayed primarily in hotels (42.5%) than in any other accommodation type, and the mean cost of their visit was €1,346 (comprising €391 on fare, €42 on prepayments, €418 on accommodation and €495 on day-to-day expenditure).”

Revisions have been made to tables 3, 6 and 7 as published in the June 2023 Inbound Tourism release. A category error resulted in some residencies in Other Europe group being reported under Other Residencies. Both the Other Europe and Other series have been revised for April, May and June 2023. For example, it was previously reported that there were 170,600 overnight visitors from Other Europe in June 2023. The revised figure for June 2023 is 183,400 (with Other Residencies adjusted downwards in equal measure). No other results in this tourism series are affected.

Departing Passenger Categories

In total, 2,177,200 passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023. The majority of these (58.7%) were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes. A further 11.4% were same day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in the Republic of Ireland (5.9%), foreign resident transfer passengers (4.7%) or other foreign resident same day visitors (0.8%). Some 29.9% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 650,200 visitors in total. The remainder of this release focuses exclusively on the characteristics and activities of these foreign resident overnight visitors.

Table 1: Passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes by category
Figure 1: Passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes by category, July 2023

Detailed Residency

Of the 650,200 foreign resident overnight visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023, the highest proportion (37.0%) was from Great Britain, accounting for 240,800 of the visitors in total. The second highest proportion (21.7%) was from the United States, accounting for 141,300 visitors. The third highest proportion (6.9%) was from Germany comprising a further 44,800 overnight visitors. Furthermore, 40,200 (6.2%) of the visitors came from France, 25,300 (3.9%) came from Spain/Portugal, 24,600 (3.8%) from Italy and 21,100 (3.2%) came from the Benelux countries.

Table 2: Foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by detailed residency
Figure 2: Foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by detailed residency, July 2023

Nights in Ireland

Foreign resident overnight visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023 spent a total of 5,643,800 nights in the country. Broken down by residency, Other Europe foreign residents spent more nights in the country than any other residency group, accounting for 2,306,600 (40.9%) of the nights. The next most important residency group, in terms of nights spent, was USA/Canada, making up 1,386,100 (24.6%) of the total nights. Residents of Great Britain were third most important, accounting for a further 1,266,500 (22.4%) of the nights. Other residencies visitors made up 684,600 (12.1%) of the nights.

Table 3: Trips and nights spent by foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by residency
Figure 3: Nights spent by foreign resident visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by residency, July 2023

Reason for visit

Among the 650,200 overnight foreign resident visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023, more had come for holiday or leisure than for any other reason. Some 292,800 (45.0%) had holiday as the main reason for their trip. The next most likely reason was to visit friends or relatives, with 226,700 (34.9%) of the visitors coming for this purpose. A further 71,800 (11.0%) of the visitors had come for business or work-related reasons.

Table 4: Foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by main reason for visit
Figure 4: Foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by main reason for visit, July 2023

Accommodation

Among the 650,200 overnight foreign resident visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023, some 276,300 (42.5%) used a hotel as their main accommodation type. Another 260,400 (40.1%) of the visitors had stayed in the main either in their own property or the property of friends or relatives. A further 41,200 (6.3%) of the visitors used self-catering/rented properties as their main accommodation type.

Table 5: Foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by main accommodation type
Figure 5: Average length of stay (nights) of foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by main accommodation type, July 2023

Expenditure

Foreign resident overnight visitors to Ireland who departed Ireland on overseas routes in July 2023 spent a total of €875.4 million on their trips.

Broken down by expense category, the costliest subheading was day-to-day spending (incidental expenditures incurred during their visit such as eating out, entrance fees, public transport, etc, but excluding accommodation), amounting to €321.7 million (36.8% of the total expenditure). The next costliest subheading was accommodation at €272 million (31.1% of the total). Fares cost a further €254.1 million (29.0% of the total). Lastly, prepayments (items paid in advance, such as car hire, pre-booked tickets, etc.) comprised just €27.6 million (3.2% of the total).

Overall, the typical overnight foreign resident visitor spent €1,346 on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €391 on their fare, €42 on prepayments, €418 on accommodation and €495 on day-to-day expenses.

Table 6: Expenditure of foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by residency and expense category
Figure 6: Expenditure of foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes by expense category, July 2023
Table 7: Mean nightly accommodation costs and day-to-day expenditure of foreign resident overnight visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes

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