The numbers of Irish residents on the move - both to destinations at home and abroad - jumped sharply over the first three months of the year when compared with the same period in 2023, new figures have revealed.
According to data published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Irish residents took a total of three million domestic overnight trips in January, February, and March of this year, up 17 per cent when compared with the first three months of last year.
There was a similar jump in the numbers travelling to overseas destinations, with the number climbing by 21 per cent year on year.
The sums being spent on domestic overnight trips increased by 19 per cent over the period with the total expenditure amounting to €576 million.
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Forty eight per cent of respondents said the main reason for taking a domestic overnight trip in the first quarter was to visit friends or relatives, followed by holidays on 36 per cent. A further 6 per cent of trips were categorised as being for business purposes.
People on holiday spent €327 million and those visiting friends or relatives were recorded as spending €150 million.
The most popular region was the area made up of Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry. It accounted for 1.3 million trips. The region comprising Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon had the least number of visitors, accounting for 800,000 trips.
Irish residents took 2.5 million outbound overnight trips with 52 per cent of those trips to EU destinations, the quarterly survey from the CSO says.
The distribution of these trips was largely dominated by holiday purposes, accounting for 61 per cent of the total followed by visits to friends or relatives on 21 per cent of the trips, while business-related travel comprised 9 per cent of the total.
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