Irish Visits Up 5%

Trips to Ireland increased by five per cent in the final three months of the year. According to figures from the Central Statistics Office, a total of 1,438,000 trips were made into Ireland - an overall increase of 68,300 compared to the same period twelve months earlier. That brought the total number of visits to Ireland last year to 6,517,200 - a 0.2% increase on the previous year. Trips by North American residents to Ireland increased by 14% to just over 200,000 in the final quarter of the year. Visitors from European Countries, other than Great Britain, increased by almost 9% to just over half a million, while visitors from other Areas increased by 15.5% to 85,000. The number of visitors from Great Britain decreased by 1.3% to 646,400. The total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents in the last three months of 2012 increased by 3.8% to 1,360,400. It brought the total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents in 2012 to 6,325,800 - an increase of 0.5% over 2011.