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| Source: CSO |
In September 2009, the number of overseas trips to Ireland fell by 13.9% to 594,600 from twelve months earlier and this was virtually the same as the number of trips to Ireland in September 2004 (596,000), according to the CSO.
The number of trips to Ireland by residents of Great Britain fell by 14.8% to 271,600 while those from Other Europe were down 17% to 192,300. Trips by residents of North America fell by 2.2% to 99,700.
Irish residents made 628,800 overseas trips in September 2009 and this was down by 13.4% from the same month a year earlier.
At the three quarter stage in 2009, the number of overseas trips to Ireland was down by 11.2% to 5,481,400 from the same period in 2008. In regard to overseas trips by Irish residents, the situation is quite similar where the number of trips fell by 10.7% to 5,576,400.
The CSO “Airport Pairings” database contains information of every direct flight in and out of the nine Irish airports on a monthly basis. Data is available from January 2006 to August 2009 here.
In response to queries on the CSO figures issued today for the overseas visitor numbers for the period January-September 2009, Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “2009 has been a very tough year for tourism to the island of Ireland, and for tourism worldwide; as the global economy deteriorated, consumers have tightened their belts, travelled less and spent less - and the CSO figures issued today reflect the impact on Ireland and, indeed, the very difficult year that tourism businesses across the island are experiencing.
“Although much uncertainty persists, there is some evidence that consumer confidence is beginning to improve, albeit slowly, in some of our key markets overseas. By year end, we anticipate close to 8 million people will have visited the island of Ireland from overseas, generating approximately €3.6 bn in revenue. While these figures represent a decline, they also represent a solid foundation to build upon next year.
Our global website http://www.discoverireland.com/ received a record 9.6 million visits in the first nine months of this year, which is most encouraging and illustrates a continued strong interest in the island of Ireland, despite the challenging environment. Our aim now is to capitalise on this interest in 2010, to work with the tourism industry to close the sale and to begin the return to growth. Tourism Ireland will launch its new marketing strategy and action plan to deliver that growth to the industry early in December,” said Gibbons.
