Ireland received some 655,400 foreign visitors during the month of July, an increase of 0.8% or approximately 5,243 year-on-year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

A third of visitors to Ireland came from Britain (240,800 or 32.2%), while more than a fifth came from the US (141,300 or 22.7%) and 7.5% (44,800) came from Germany.

Visitors stayed a total of 5.3m nights in Ireland last month, a decline of 6.2% when compared to July 2023, or 8.1 nights on average, again down 7% from 8.7%.

However, spending rose 5% or €43.8m year-on-year from €875.4m to €919.2m, with visitors shelling out an average of €1,403, up 4.2% or €56.10 from €1,346 last July.

Day-to-day spending was the costliest subheading, accounting for €336.9m or 36.7% of expenditure ahead of accommodation (€281.5m or 30.6%) and fares (€269.3m or 29.3%).

The average tourist spent €411 on their fare, €48 on prepayments, €430 on accommodation, and €514 on day-to-daye expenses

Holiday or leisure purposes were the most frequent reason for people visiting Ireland at 45.7% followed by visiting friends (30.1%), and business or work (11%).

Lastly, prepayments (items paid in advance, such as car hire, pre-booked tickets, etc) comprised just €31.5m or 3.4%.

Some four in 10 (41%) visitors stayed in a hotel while more than a third (36.3%) were put up by family, friends or stayed at their own property, and 6.2% checked into a guest house or B&B.

A further 5.7% of foreign visitors used rented/self-catering accommodation.

More than 2.2m people departed Ireland on overseas routes in July, up 3% year-on-year, with the majority (60.8%) being Irish residents and 10% being same-day visitors, including Northern Irish residents flying from the Republic.

(Pic: Getty Images)