The number of foreign visitors to Ireland was down slightly in October compared to the same time last year.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show 548,100 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in October- a decrease of 5.1% on October 2023.

However, despite the fall in numbers, the visitors spent €534.3m on their trips, excluding fares, which is 3.6% up compared to the same month in 2023.

The largest contingent of visitors, 32.6%, came from Great Britain, followed by the United States, 21.7%, and Germany 8.1%.

The main reason, 44.2%, for travelling to Ireland was for holiday or leisure.

But the visitors stayed a total of 3.9 million nights in the country, down 2.1% when compared with October 2023.

Although, the average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 7.1 nights, up from an average of 6.9 nights in October 2023.

Gregg Patrick, statistician in the CSO's Tourism and Travel Division, said: “The results show that 548,100 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in October 2024, a decrease of 5.1% compared with October 2023.

"The visitors' expenditure in Ireland (i.e. excluding fares) was €534.3 million, an increase of 3.6% compared with October 2023.

"The most important tourism market, in terms of revenue generated was North America, with visitors from the United States and Canada accounting for 42.5% of all visitor expenditure. This was followed by continental Europe (34.4%), Great Britain (15.9%), and the rest of the world (7.2%).

"The most frequent reason for their journey (44.2%) was for holiday or leisure purposes.

"More of the visitors stayed in hotels (47.4%) than in any other accommodation type, and the typical visit lasted 7.1 nights.”

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