The CSO today published a new thematic report called ‘Tourism Trends 2007’, which brings together tourism statistics from a variety of sources to provide a useful reference source to those interested in the Tourism sector. Some of the key points highlighted in the report are:
• The number of overseas trips to Ireland grew by 27% to 8,012,000 between 2000 and 2007. Over half of all trips were for holiday purposes. Earnings from these visitors was €4,902m in 2007.
• Dublin was the most popular region for holiday makers in 2007 with 61% of visitors spending at least one night in the region.
• The Irish people and the scenery were cited as the most frequently mentioned advantages of Ireland as a holiday destination between 2002 and 2007 with the weather, high cost of living and bad roads being the disadvantages.
• Irish residents made 7,942,000 domestic trips in 2007 spending €1,551m in the process. Domestic trips grew by 45% since 2000 and expenditure almost doubled.
• Irish residents made 7,830,000 foreign trips in 2007 which was more than twice that in 2000. Foreign holiday trips increased by 145% in this period. Total expenditure on all foreign trips amounted to €7,344.8m.
• Foreign holiday trips taken in the first and last quarters of the year almost trebled between 2000 and 2007 with much of this increase taking place from 2003 onwards.
• Irish Airports handled 30,249,233 international flight passengers and 2,152,974 domestic flight passengers in 2007.
• London Airports were the most popular route for arrivals and departures at Irish Airports in 2007.
• The most popular activity taken on domestic holidays by Irish residents in 2007 was visiting National Parks while for overseas visitors it was hiking/hill walking.
• The Guinness Storehouse was the most popular overall attraction in 2007 with just under 947,000 visitors.
Tourism Trends 2007 is priced at €12.00 and is available on our website www.cso.ie (PDF 653KB)
Hard copies available from the:
Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork,
Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2,
or through any bookseller.
For more information contact:
Tourism and Transport Section
Central Statistics Office, Cork
Phone: Locall 1890 313 414/(021) 453 5120/(021) 453 5777
Fax: (021) 453 5299
Internet: www.cso.ie
E-mail: tourism@cso.ie
19 December 2008
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