The number of tourists visiting Ireland increased by 7.9 per cent last year while Irish people took fewer trips abroad, figures published by the Central Statistics Office today show.
A total of 6.6 million people visited Ireland in 2011, an increase of 500,000 on the previous year.
The number of nights spent in Ireland by overseas travellers rose by 6.1 per cent, from 48 million in 2010 to 50.9 million in 2011.
Visitors to Ireland also spent 0.7 per cent more here last year, contributing a total of €3.58 billion to the economy.
Irish people took fewer overseas journeys in 2011, with the total number of trips falling 4.2 per cent on 2010 figures to 6.4 million.
The number of journeys taken by Irish people to visit friends and relatives abroad fell by 10.7 per cent, while the number of leisure vacations taken fell by 2.3 per cent.
Irish residents also spent less on overseas tourism and travel last year, with the total falling by 7.2 per cent from €5.21 billion in 2010 to €4.84 billion in 2011.
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