CSO, 03 April 2025, 6pm
The Inbound Tourism release is published every month and provides unique and timely insights on tourists coming to Ireland, including tourist numbers, where they come from, how many nights they stay in Ireland, how much they spend and what they spend their money on.
The Inbound Tourism release is based on the CSO Passenger Survey which is collected each month at the country’s international ports and airports by a team of dedicated CSO Tourist Enumerator staff.
CSO Tourist Enumerator staff survey departing passengers each month for the CSO Passenger Survey. In February 2025, just over 13,000 passengers were surveyed, which is in line with previous months.
Data collected in the CSO Passenger Survey is calibrated against passenger flow data provided by the ports and airports. The data is collected according to a consistent and robust methodology which has been created in collaboration with industry stakeholders. These methods, which underwent an independent review in 2024, have been applied consistently since the survey was introduced in 2023.
The estimated number of overseas overnight visitors who completed trips to Ireland in February 2025 was just over 300,000, which was 30% lower than in the corresponding period in 2024. Estimated total nights spent and total expenditure during these trips were also significantly lower than in February 2024, down by 33% and 31%, respectively. However, it is worth noting that February is historically one of the least popular months in the year for people to visit Ireland, accounting for 5.4% of all foreign visitors in 2024.
Monthly results for overseas overnight visitor numbers have been showing a consistent year-on-year trend in recent months. In September 2024, the survey reported a decrease of 1% on the previous September, and the amount by which the year-on-year comparison has fallen has increased in each successive month since then. The visitor numbers reported for January 2025 showed a fall of 25% compared with January 2024. January and February would be considered as part of the low season for tourism.
All region categories are showing decreases in recent months. In February 2025, the estimated number of visitors from North America (USA and Canada) and from mainland Europe (Europe excluding the United Kingdom) were down by more than 30%. The number of visitors from Great Britain fell by just under a quarter (24%).
In terms of the reason for their visit, the survey indicated the greatest decline in February 2025 was amongst those travelling for holidays, leisure or recreation, which fell by 40% compared with a year ago. Overnight visits for business purposes fell by 29%. Another factor is that February 2025 had one day less than February 2024 as it was a leap year. January and February 2024 had a higher than usual rate of tourist numbers which means the falls noted in 2025 are against this relatively high base.
What we can see from the data is this downward trend started in September 2024 and the decline has been steadily growing since then through the shoulder and low seasons.
The CSO is confident the trends reported in the Inbound Tourism series reflect real trends in overseas visitor numbers.
The data is collected according to a consistent and robust methodology which has been independently reviewed. These methods have been applied consistently since the survey was introduced.
There can be differences in monthly results across years, for example, a leap year means an extra day of data in a particular year, or the timing of Easter or other events may see tourism activity move between months across different years. That said, the consistency of the trend observed across a number of months is noteworthy, particularly in the context of a consistent methodology.
The CSO welcomes industry feedback and routinely meets with industry stakeholders. The CSO is keen to provide support to all users, including through the Tourism Statistics Liaison Group, to enhance understanding and interpretation of its data and results. In addition, the CSO welcomes the opportunity for further engagement with the industry including with respect to other data sources the industry may provide which might help interpret the trends being observed in the Inbound Tourism release.