The number of trips made by overseas visitors to Ireland in the first three months of the year rose by 6 per cent compared to the same period in 2004, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO says there were 1.29 million overseas visits to Ireland between January and March compared with 1.21 in 2004.
But the figures show a dramatic 19 per cent fall off in the number of bed nights spent in guests houses and bed & breakfasts.
The number of bed nights spent in hotels increased by 6 per cent during the three-month period.
The number of overseas visits to Ireland by residents of Britain grew by 3 per cent bucking a downward trend in 2004.
There was also a 33 per cent rise in the number of visitors from continental Europe.
But the number of visitors from the North America fell by 11 per cent during the period.
The figures show the average length of stay of overseas visits with at least one overnight fell from 6.5 nights in 2004 to 6.4 nights in 2005 .
The number of Irish resident visiting countries abroad rose by 16 per cent, from 1.03 million in 2004 to 1.21 million this year.
Irish people travelling on Continental European routes grew by 24 per cent, while the number travelling on air cross-channel to Britain routes grew by 8 per cent.
The number of Irish residents travelling on transatlantic routes was 32% higher on the same period of 2004.