The number of foreign visitors to Ireland fell in December, down by more than 12 percent compared to the same period in 2023, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Visitors spent €328.6 million on their December trips (excluding fares), down 20.4 percent compared with December 2023.
The CSO says there were 390,700 foreign visitors to Ireland in December.
“The most important tourism market, in terms of revenue generated was other [parts of] Europe, with visitors from Continental Europe accounting for 40.9% of all visitor expenditure. This was followed by United States of America & Canada (27.4%), Great Britain (22.5%), and the rest of the world (9.3%)”, says statistian, Gregg Patrick.
About half of the foreign visitors came to Ireland see friends and family.
The CSO calculates visitor numbers using data from the ports and airports and therefore it “does not capture data on residents of Northern Ireland visiting Ireland as a tourism destination.”
After a healthy first half to 2024, visitor numbers to Ireland were down throughout the Autumn and early winter.
Despite the fall in foreign visitors and a tough time for the high street, retail sales were on a par with the previous year, according to the irish business organisation, Ibec.
“Consumer sentiment improved over the past 12 months, supported by a rapid fall in inflation, but retail spending growth was modest. This will likely translate into an increase of around 1 percent this month [December] on last year”, said Retail Ireland Director, Arnold Dillon.