The number of foreign visitors to Ireland fell 8.9% in November compared to the same time in 2023, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

A total of 407,000 visitors completed a trip to Ireland last month, down 40,500 from 447,500 last November.

Tourists spent €315.9m on their trips to Ireland, excluding travel fares, down 5.4% from November 2023, with visitors from continental Europe contributing 33.5% of all visitor expenditure, more than travellers from the US and Canada (31.5%), Britain (24.4%) and the rest of the world (10.6%).

Including fares, total expenditure came to €430.7m, with day-to-day spending amounting to €175.2m, accommodation €128.9m, fares €114.8m, and prepayments such as car hire and tickets €11.8m.

The average cost of their trips, excluding fares in November 2024 was €775, whereas the average cost 12 months previously was €746. With fares, the average came to €1,056 breaking down as €282 for their fare, €29 on prepayments, €316 on accommodation and €430 on day-to-day expenses.

Britain accounted for the largest share of visitors to Ireland at 43% of 175,4000, followed by the US (16% or 65,400) and Germany (6.7% or 27,400). Numbers visiting Ireland across those three groups were all lower than in November 2023 when 182,800 people from Britain, 75,100 from the US and 29,600 from Germany visited.

The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was to visit family or friends (36.7% or 149,600), followed by holidays (140,200 or 34.4%), business or work (19% or 77,000).

Hotels (44% or 179,400) were the most common type of accommodation, just ahead of family or friend's homes (42.3% or 172,600), while small minorities stayed in rented/self-catering accommodation (5.3% or 21,700) and guest houses/B&Bs (4.2% or 17,100).

Visitors stayed for a total of 2.5m nights in the country, a decline of 17.9% year-on-year, and the average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 6.2 nights, down from an average of 6.9 nights a year earlier.

More than 1.4m people departed Ireland on overseas routes, up 4.5% from November 2023. The majority (62.5%) of whom were Irish residents going on holidays, while 8.8% were same-day visitors comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in the Republic (3.6%), foreign resident transfer passengers (3.7%), or other foreign resident same day visitors (1.4%). 

Some 28.7% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 407,700 visitors in total.

(Pic: Getty Images)