Tourists to Ireland spent €624m in July, a drop of 4% when compared with the same month the previous year.

Including travel fares, the total rose to €859.6m, of which day-to-day spending make up €321.9m or 37.4% and accommodation €267.1m (31.1%) while fares costs some €235.5m or 27.4%

In July, the average foreign visitor spent €1,330 on their trip to Ireland, including their travel fare (€364), and they laid out €413 on accommodation, and €498 on day-to-day expenses.

Compared to the same month in 2024, visitors are spending notably less on fares (€411), accommodation (€413) and expenses (€514).

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show there were 646,400 foreign visitors to Ireland last month, which was down 1% from July in both in 2024 and 2024.

Foreign visitors also stayed for less time than in recent years, visiting for an average of 7.9 nights, down from 8.1 nights last July and 8.7 nights in July 2023.

The numbers come after the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) said that 2025 has been "a difficult year on a number of fronts" for the tourism and hospitality industry.

In its pre-Budget submission, the confederation cited double-digit decreases in visitor revenue (-17%) and volume (-13%) from overseas markets during the first half of 2025 and reiterated calls for the Dublin Airport passenger cap to be lifted.

In July, Britain (33%), continental Europe (31%) and North America (30%) accounted for the greatest share of visitors.

While visitor numbers from Britain were down 1% and continental Europe 12%, visitors from North America increased 13%. Visitor numbers from the rest of the world, which accounted for 6% of visitors, decreased 7%.

Regarding tourist spending, CSO statistician Edward Duffy said visitors from Great Britain accounted for €118m (19%) of this spend, Continental Europe for €197m (32%), North America for €255m (41%), and visitors from the Rest of the World for €54m (9%).

"Taken together, this represented a fall of 4% when compared with July 2024, and a rise of 0.4% when compared with July 2023."

Among the 646,400 foreign visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes in July 2025, 289,000 (44.7%) stated holiday as the main reason for their trip.

The next most common reason was for visiting family and friends, with 199,400 (30.8%) of the visitors coming for this purpose. A further 77,500 (12%) of the visitors had come for business or work-related reasons. 

Compared with July 2024, visitors travelling for a holiday fell by 3.5%, visiting family and friends rose by 1%, and those visiting for business or work decreased by 10%.

Some 264,500 or 40.9% of visitors stayed in a hotel while a third (223,400 or 34.6%) stayed in their own property or with family and friends.

Some 44,700 (6.9%) of the foreign visitors used guest house/bed & breakfast as their main accommodation type, while 44,200 (6.8%) of the visitors used rented/self-catering as their main accommodation type.

By way of comparison, in July 2024 some 268,800 visitors stayed in a hotel, 237,600 stayed in their own property or with family and friends, 40,900 used guest house/bed & breakfast accommodation and 37,300 stayed in rented/self-catering types.

The change in accommodation type from this time last year indicates Airbnbs and guest houses have become more popular at the expense of hotels.

A total of nearly 2.4m passengers, 62% of whom were Irish residents, departed the country on overseas routes last month, which was a 6.7% increase year-on-year.

A further 11% were same day visitors, including 5.5% who were travelling from the North via the Republic to an airport or seaport.

(Pic: Dublin Airport)