Annual/Monthly.
Inbound travel patterns of foreign residents visiting Ireland, which involve overnight stays and same-day trips, and associated variables.
All foreign resident visitors departing Ireland on overseas air and sea routes. Foreign resident visitors who depart Ireland via Northern Ireland are not covered. Foreign resident cruise excursionists who visit Ireland are also not covered.
The purpose of the Inbound Tourism statistical series is to measure the travel patterns (trips, nights, purpose of trip, type of accommodation, expenditure, etc.) of foreign resident visitors to Ireland. The series is one of several Central Statistics Office (CSO) tourism series conducted to comply with the requirements of Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 concerning the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism for data to the end of 2011 and Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC in respect of data from the beginning of 2012.
Information is collected via the Passenger Survey, an ongoing survey of departing passengers at Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, and at Dublin Port, Europort Rosslare and Ringaskiddy Port.
Why departing passengers (as opposed to arriving passengers). There are three reasons for this:
The Passenger Survey is conducted by CSO enumerators and consists of enumerator-led interviews of a sample of departing passengers. The data is captured by the enumerators using of an electronic questionnaire hosted on tablets and mobile devices. The questionnaire captures information on the flight or sailing of the departing passenger, their residency, reason for travel, their length of stay in the country, the accommodation types they used and various expenditure information such as their fare cost, accommodation cost and day-to-day expenditure.
The Passenger Survey was first trialled in Dublin Airport in 2019 then, following a hiatus due to COVID-19, was fully implemented in Dublin Airport in 2022, before being rolled out to the other airports and seaports in early 2023.
The Passenger Survey employs a hybrid sample design. At Dublin Airport, where the main enumeration effort is made, a two-stage cluster sample approach is used. A sample of departing flights (clusters) is randomly selected. Then the enumerators interview a systematic sample of passengers preparing to board those flights. At Cork, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, where flight departures are less frequent, a different approach is used. Enumerators are allocated rotating shifts that represent the full range of flight activity. The enumerators then attempt to interview a sample of passengers on all flights departing in their shifts. At the seaports, where sailings are even less frequent, a different approach again is taken. A systematic sample of departing sailings is selected and the enumerators then attempt to interview as many passengers as possible preparing to board these vessels. The overall sample size of the Passenger Survey by year and month is as tabulated.
| Inbound Tourism Series Sample Size | |||||||||||||
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 9,429 | 8,156 | 10,343 | 10,512 | 8,009 | 7,632 | 14,259 | 9,551 | 12,032 | 13,681 | 12,163 | 9,692 | 125,459 |
| 2024 | 9,177 | 12,493 | 14,703 | 14,349 | 15,772 | 15,232 | 17,450 | 16,468 | 115,644 | ||||
The Inbound Tourism results are compiled by weighting the Passenger Survey returns to total departing airport and seaport passenger numbers reported monthly by the airport authorities and sea ferry operators respectively. There is a separate weighting scheme for each airport and seaport. The weighting scheme for Dublin Airport is the most complex, with passengers surveyed on a specific flight first being weighted to the total number of passengers on that flight then weighted again to represent the total passenger numbers departing to various countries. Non-transfer and transfer passengers are weighted separately. For the other airports, the passengers surveyed departing to the various destination countries are simply weighted to the total passengers departing to those countries. For the seaports, passenger returns departing on each specific ferry route are weighted to the total number of passengers departing on those ferry routes. All individual airport and seaport results are then combined to produce the Inbound Tourism results.
In January 2023 the Passenger Survey was fully operational only at Dublin Airport and Knock Airport. It was only in April 2023 that the survey was fully operational at all airports and seaports. To allow the compilation of full results for the year, imputation techniques were used to fill the gaps in coverage at the non-operational airports and seaports at the start of the year. For the most part, the imputation entailed using survey returns for the airports and seaports in the comparable months of 2024 and reweighting these to 2023 monthly passenger totals. The 2024 return expenditures were deflated using the Consumer Price Index to arrive at comparable 2023 expenditure estimates. For some months later in the year, imputation was also used at Kerry Airport and Ringaskiddy Port when coverage of these could not be provided for operational reasons. Some 4,744 passenger returns were imputed in total in 2023 (increasing the nominal Passenger Survey sample size to 130,203 for that year). These imputed returns represented 2.3% of the published passenger estimates for 2023.
Means the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal purpose, other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.
The usual environment of an individual is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines. Places that are frequently visited are part of a person’s usual environment even though they may be located at a considerable distance (or in another country) from the place of residence. For the purposes of this release, trips taken on a weekly or more frequent basis are considered to be within a respondent’s usual environment and are thus excluded from estimates for tourism trips. The one exception being that of holiday homes which although may be frequently visited, are considered outside the usual environment according to the UNWTO 2008 International Recommendations on Tourism Statistics (IRTS).
Inbound tourism is defined as the activities of foreign residents travelling to and staying in places within the Republic of Ireland and outside their usual environment. It is important to note that trips by Northern Ireland residents to the Republic, whilst technically classed as inbound tourism, are excluded from these series for practical reasons. Northern Ireland residents who depart the Republic via an airport or seaport in the Republic, are assumed to the same day visitors simply transiting through.
A Visitor is defined as 'any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited'.
A same day visitor is a visitor who spends no more than one day in the country visited. They do not stay overnight.
An overnight visitor is a visitor who stays at least one night in the country visited.
A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. A trip may be made up of visits to different places. Only trips by foreign residents to Ireland are included in the Inbound Tourism series.
Reported are foreign resident overnight and same-day trips that ended in the reference month. Note that the overnight foreign resident visitors may have arrived in Ireland prior to the reference month (e.g. if a visitor arrived in Ireland in May 2023 and departed in June 2023, this would be classed as a June 2023 trip).
Included are all trips for personal or professional purposes (e.g. holidays, visiting friends or relatives, business or professional trips, sporting or religious events, medical visits, shopping trips). Excluded are all trips that are part of normal work routines, such as trips by aircrew, sea crew and commercial vehicle drivers.
Country of Residence is defined as the country in which the person has resided during the greater part of the 12 months prior to being interviewed.
All passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes are divided into one of five categories;
Nights refer to the number of nights stayed in the country by the foreign resident visitors. By definition, same day visitors spend no nights in the country. It is important to note that the number of nights reported in a particular reference month refer to the cumulative trip nights spent in the country by the visitor departing that reference month. They are not apportioned out over individual months. Thus a visitor who arrives in Ireland on 24 May and departs on 8 June will be classed as having spent 14 nights in the country as he departs in June (even though 7 of those nights were actually spent in May). Seasonal factors (e.g. foreign students departing the country at the end of term) may inflate the number of nights reported in specific months (e.g. December).
The main reason for travel is the primary purpose for which the visitor came to Ireland. A visitor may have multiple reasons for visiting Ireland, but only the main reason is reported.
Main accommodation type is the type of accommodation the visitors used more than any other type. Very often, visitors will stay in only one accommodation type and this is their main accommodation type by default. If visitors stay in more than one accommodation type, the type they spent the most nights in is designated their main accommodation type.
Expenditure covers all routine expenditure relating directly to a trip. Expenditure is divided into four categories:
All expenditure relates to individual expenditure. Where visitors travel as a group and can only provide the cost of the group fare, group accommodation, etc. these group costs are divided by the number of persons in the travelling party to estimate the individual costs. The expenditure covers both payments made by the travelling party and all expenses paid for or reimbursed by others (e.g. an employer).
Fares only cover the cost of travelling directly to and from Ireland. Where a visitor purchases a ticket covering multiple destinations only the cost of the direct route to Ireland is nominally included (e.g. if a US visitor flies from John F Kennedy Airport to Heathrow Airport and from there to Dublin Airport, only the Heathrow-Dublin element of the fare is included). In these cases the visitor is assigned the median fare of those who only travel the direct route. For those who travel to Ireland by ferry, their accompanying vehicle (if any) is included in the cost of the fare.
Package fares are assumed to cover the cost of both fares and accommodation. Visitors who package fares are assigned a median fare based on their travel route and the remainder of their package costs are assumed to be their accommodation costs.
Prepayments only cover the purchases of services in Ireland. The purchase of travel-related services in other countries (e.g. airport parking at their point of embarkation to Ireland) are excluded.
Accommodation costs cover all direct costs associated with booking a room, bed or space in the accommodation premises. The purchase of additional services from the accommodation provider (e.g. an evening meal or on-site parking) are classed as day-to-day expenditures (or prepayments, when booked in advance). Note that nights spent with friends or relatives or in the visitors own properties are assumed to be unpaid accommodation.
Excluded from trip costs are any expenditure on housing, land, real estate, goods for resale, donations to charities/institutions or cash presents/payments to relatives and friends who are not part of the travel party.
Individual figures have been rounded independently and the sum of the component items therefore may not necessarily add to the totals shown.
| Other Europe (2) includes the following countries: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aland Islands | Guernsey | North Macedonia |
| Albania | Holy See (the) | Poland |
| Andorra | Hungary | Romania |
| Austria | Iceland | Russian Federation |
| Belarus | Isle of Man | San Marino |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Jersey | Serbia |
| Bulgaria | Kosovo | Slovakia |
| Croatia | Latvia | Slovenia |
| Cyprus | Liechtenstein | Svalbard and Jan Mayen |
| Czechia | Lithuania | Switzerland |
| Estonia | Malta | Turkiye |
| Faroe Islands (the) | Moldova, Republic of | Ukraine |
| Gibraltar | Monaco | |
| Greece | Montenegro | |
| Other Europe (3) includes the following countries: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aland Islands | Greece | North Macedonia |
| Albania | Guernsey | Norway |
| Andorra | Holy See (the) | Poland |
| Austria | Hungary | Portugal |
| Belarus | Iceland | Romania |
| Belgium | Isle of Man | Russian Federation |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Italy | San Marino |
| Bulgaria | Jersey | Serbia |
| Croatia | Kosovo | Slovakia |
| Cyprus | Latvia | Slovenia |
| Czechia | Liechtenstein | Spain |
| Denmark | Lithuania | Svalbard and Jan Mayen |
| Estonia | Luxembourg | Sweden |
| Faroe Islands (the) | Malta | Switzerland |
| Finland | Moldova, Republic of | Turkiye |
| France | Monaco | Ukraine |
| Germany | Montenegro | |
| Gibraltar | Netherlands | |
The Inbound Tourism series complements the Household Travel Survey series in that whilst the former reports statistics on Inbound Tourism, the latter reports statistics on Domestic Tourism (Irish residents travelling within Ireland) and Outbound Tourism (Irish residents travelling abroad). Definitions and classifications between the two sets of series are harmonised as closely as possible and statistics on Outbound Tourism are calibrated to departing Irish resident passenger numbers compiled from the Passenger Survey. Taken together, the Inbound Tourism series and the Household Travel Survey series provide a very comprehensive overview of all tourism activities impacting the state.
The Inbound Tourism series also complements the Air and Sea Travel Statistics compiled and published during the COVID-19 era (and updated and maintained on a monthly basis in the CSO Database system:
Air and Sea Travel Statistics, ASM01, ASM02, ASM03, ASA01, ASA02, ASA03
Whilst the Air and Sea Travel Statistics reports the overall number of passengers arriving and departing on overseas routes, the Inbound Tourism series provides the detailed characteristics of the departing passengers. The Inbound Tourism series is weighted to the number of departing passengers reported in the Air and Sea Travel Statistics.
The Inbound Tourism series is also related to the former Overseas Travel series (published monthly up to February 2020) and the former Tourism and Travel series (published quarterly to the fourth quarter of 2019), in that all three sets of series report on the characteristics of foreign resident visitors who travel on overseas routes to Ireland. However, care must be taken comparing the Inbound Tourism series to both the Overseas Travel series and Tourism and Travel series. The Inbound Tourism series is compiled using a very different sampling methodology and a very different mode of data collection. Therefore, the results of the respective series are not directly comparable. The Inbound Tourism series should be seen as a completely new and different statistical series rather than a continuation or update of the Overseas Travel and Tourism and Travel series.
The Inbound Tourism series is a new statistical series based on an updated sampling methodology and data collection process. This new methodology represents a significant improvement on the previous methodology, particularly in terms of the sampling and a move to a fully digitised process, and this produces an enhanced measurement of inbound tourism in Ireland. In line with best practice, the CSO monitors the quality of its methodological processes and outputs of its statistical work. As part of the review process for this series, a range of validation exercises have been conducted including a review of the raw passenger data by destination and the change to surveying departing passengers only (versus the previously applied process of surveying arriving and departing passengers). The CSO will continue to review its application and outcomes over the coming months.