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Tourist numbers down in September but average spend rises to €1,584 per trip, CSO says

The number of visitors to the State dropped by 0.7% to 587,100 in September 2024 versus the same month of last year

Tourists over look the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare, one of the country's most popular attractions. Photograph: Enda O'Dowd
Tourists over look the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare, one of the country's most popular attractions. Photograph: Enda O'Dowd
Fiona Keeley
Wed Oct 30 2024 - 17:26

The number of tourists to Ireland dropped by 0.7 per cent to 587,100 in September 2024 compared with the same month last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said.

On average, tourists spent €1,584 on a trip to Ireland in September, a 15.2 per cent increase compared to the same month in 2023 when it stood at €1,375. These costs cover their trip to Ireland; payments for accommodation; day-to-day expenses for things such as restaurants; and any bookings they might have in advance of travelling to the country.

Overall, the cost of the stays rose by 14.4 per cent compared to September last year, with visitors spending a total of €915.6 million. Day-to-day expenses such as eating out in restaurants and using public transport amounted to 35.5 per cent of tourists’ total expenditure, standing at €324.7 million. This was followed by accommodation at €303.5 million, 33.1 per cent of the total cost.

The total number of nights stayed by visitors dropped by 3.2 per cent to 4.5 million nights. On average, visitors stayed 7.8 nights in Ireland in September this year, down from 8 in the same period of 2023.

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“Typically, their visit lasted 7.8 nights and the total spent on their trips was up 14.4 per cent to €915.6 million in September 2024 when compared with the same month in 2023″ said statistician for the tourism and travel division at the CSO Gregg Patrick.

The largest number of visitors to Ireland during September came from Britain, standing at 32.3 per cent. Some 141,800 tourists came from the United States, standing at 24.5 per cent. There were 48,200 visitors from Germany, accounting for 8.3 per cent of the total.

Some 47.4 per cent of people visited fora holiday in September, coming in at 274,000. This represented a 0.6 per cent decline on the same month in 2023.

Another 164,700, visited family or friends while 86,100 people came for business reasons.

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