Of the 737,600 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023, 35.2% of the visitors were from Great Britain, 19.3% were from the United States, and 7.8% were from France.
The visitors most frequent reason (47.2%) for visiting Ireland was for holiday or leisure purposes.
The visitors stayed a total of 7,337,700 nights in the country.
The total estimated expenditure of foreign visitors on their trips to Ireland was €996.1 million.
The visitors stayed on average 9.9 nights and spent on average €1,351 on their trips.
On 15 November 2023 a revision was made to the headline in this release. The main headline category referring to ‘foreign resident overnight visitors’ was changed to ‘foreign visitors’. This change was reflected in the remainder of this release. The following information note was also added in order to give context to the category ‘foreign visitors’.
Foreign visitors in the context of this release refers to overseas residents who have stayed at least one night in the Republic of Ireland. These overseas residents include both Irish and non-Irish nationals but specifically exclude residents of Northern Ireland.
In total, 2,194,300 passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023. The majority of these (55.0%) were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes. A further 11.4% were same day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in the Republic of Ireland (5.3%), foreign resident transfer passengers (4.4%) or other foreign resident same day visitors (1.7%). Some 33.6% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 737,600 visitors in total. The remainder of this release focuses exclusively on the characteristics and activities of these foreign resident overnight visitors (referred to simply as foreign visitors for the sake of brevity).
Of the 737,600 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023, the highest proportion (35.2%) was from Great Britain, accounting for 259,900 of the visitors in total. The second highest proportion (19.3%) was from the United States, accounting for 142,600 visitors. The third highest proportion (7.8%) was from France comprising a further 57,700 overnight visitors. Furthermore, 47,900 (6.5%) of the visitors came from Germany, 43,800 (5.9%) came from Spain/Portugal, 39,700 (5.4%) from Italy, and 33,200 (4.5%) came from the Benelux countries.
Foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023 spent a total of 7,337,700 nights in the country. Broken down by residency, Other Europe visitors spent more nights in the country than any other residency group, accounting for 3,286,800 (44.8%) of the nights. The next most important residency group, in terms of nights spent, was Great Britain, making up 1,822,100 (24.8%) of the total nights. Residents of the USA & Canada were third most important, accounting for a further 1,416,800 (19.3%) of the nights. Other residencies visitors made up 812,000 (11.1%) of the nights.
Among the 737,600 foreign visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023, more had come for holiday or leisure than for any other reason. Some 348,100 (47.2%) had holiday as the main reason for their trip. The next most likely reason was to visit friends or relatives, with 249,000 (33.8%) of the visitors coming for this purpose. A further 81,800 (11.1%) of the visitors had come for business or work-related reasons.
Among the 737,600 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023, some 297,000 (40.3%) used a hotel as their main accommodation type. Another 295,900 (40.1%) of the visitors had stayed in the main either in their own property or the property of friends or relatives. A further 45,700 (6.2%) of the visitors used guest house/bed & breakfast as their main accommodation type, while 36,600 (5.0%) of the visitors used self-catering/rented properties as their main accommodation type.
Foreign visitors to Ireland who departed Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023 spent a total of €996.1 million on their trips.
Broken down by expense category, the costliest subheading was day-to-day spending (incidental expenditures incurred during their visit such as eating out, entrance fees, public transport, etc, but excluding accommodation), amounting to €372.2 million (37.4% of the total expenditure). The next costliest subheading was accommodation at €315.5 million (31.7% of the total). Fares cost a further €262.9 million (26.4% of the total). Lastly, prepayments (items paid in advance, such as car hire, pre-booked tickets, etc.) comprised just €45.6 million (4.6% of the total).
Overall, the typical foreign visitor spent €1,351 on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €356 on their fare, €62 on prepayments, €428 on accommodation, and €505 on day-to-day expenses.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (31 October 2023) released Inbound Tourism August 2023.
Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said: “The results show that among the 2,194,300 passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes in August 2023, some 737,600 (33.6%) were foreign visitors completing their trips (with the balance being Irish residents heading abroad (55.0%) and foreign same-day visitors (11.4%)). Amongst the 737,600 foreign visitors some 35.2% were from Great Britain, 19.3% were from the United States, and 7.8% were from France.
Typically, their visit lasted 9.9 nights. Their most frequent reason for visiting was for holiday or leisure purposes (47.2%). More of the visitors stayed primarily in hotels (40.3%) than in any other accommodation type, and the mean cost of their visit was €1,351 (comprising €356 on fare, €62 on prepayments, €428 on accommodation, and €505 on day-to-day expenditure).”