Overseas trips to Ireland were down by almost one quarter in February, when compared with the previous year, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
Some 336,800 trips were made here in February, a decrease of 108,400 on the previous year. Trips from Britain were down by almost 30 per cent to 171,500 while trips by residents from the rest of Europe and the US decreased by 22.8 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively. Trips by residents of other countries increased by 9.4 per cent.
Irish residents also curtailed their trips abroad in February. They made 447,200 overseas trips - a reduction of 5.7 per cent on February 2009.
Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin said while the CSO figures were disappointing "they should be seen in the context of the severe weather conditions in January and February, particularly in Britain, which would have impacted on people's plans for overseas travel".
"The typical visitor to Ireland in January and February comes on a short break from Britain or Western Europe and tends to book quite close to departure date. The particularly adverse weather conditions discouraged many from making travel plans. Indeed many countries issued severe weather warnings advising against any unnecessary travel," Ms Hanafin said.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said the first three months of this year had been "extremely difficult" and the CSO figures reflected the impact of the world recession on consumer spending. He said Tourism Ireland had a comprehensive promotional programme in place to restore overseas tourism to growth this year.
