| Tourism Spend Soars as Ireland Gets Travel
Bug Irish people spent more travelling abroad last year than tourists
coming to Ireland.
Latest figures show there was an increase of 3 per cent in the number
of visitors to Ireland last year with a total spend of 4,076million.
But the Irish who travelled abroad spent more at 4,180million.
Last year saw 6,574,000 visitors travel to Ireland but the number of
bednights dropped slightly by 1 per cent on the 2003 figures.
People visiting the country stayed an average of 7.5 nights but the Irish
who travelled abroad stayed away longer an average of 8.5 nights.
The figures from the Central Statistics Office show air travel was more
popular than sea travel on the cross-channel routes, and the numbers of
Americans and Canadians visiting Ireland rose by 8 per cent to 997,000.
The number of Irish people travelling abroad has also increased significantly.
The CSO figures show a 10 per cent increase in 2004 to 5,409,000 visits
abroad compared with 4,929,000 in 2003.
British visitors continue to account for the largest amount of money
spent by non-residents visiting the country although the figure is down
by more than 40million on the 2003 figures.
Almost 1.8million of those who visited Ireland last year cited holidays,
leisure or recreation as their reason for travelling.
July to September still remain the most popular months for visitors,
with the figures showing a total of 17,729 bednights in that three-month
period compared with 7,312 bednights in January to March.
Hotels remained the most popular form of accommodation but there has
been a slight drop in the number of bednights taken up in bed and breakfast
accommodation.
Rented houses and apartments showed a slight increase as an alternative
form of accommodation while there has been a decline in caravan and camping
and hostel accommodation.
Visitors from Britain spent more nights staying with friends or relatives
than in a hotel.
American and Canadian visitors opted for hotels followed by friends and
then guest house accommodation.
European visitors showed a preference for rented houses or apartments
over hotels.
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