IT MAY be the land of a hundred thousand welcomes but fewer than 1 per cent of Europeans plan to holiday in Ireland this coming year, according to the results of a Eurobarometer survey on travel.
Just 0.6 per cent of more than 30,000 respondents in the other 26 EU member states, as well as Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia, Norway and Iceland, said they planned to visit Ireland this year, on a par with Australia for planned holiday destinations for European citizens in 2011.
When Irish holidaymakers were taken into account, the percentage of those planning holidays here fell to just half a per cent.
The Irish featured among the least likely to holiday at home, with just 18 per cent of Irish people intending to have a so-called staycation this year compared to an average of 38 per cent Europe-wide who plan to holiday at home.
The other countries which have accepted an EU-IMF bailout have a much higher percentage of home holidaymakers: more than two-thirds of Greek people plan to vacation at home, while 58 per cent of Portuguese respondents intend to stay put – though it should be said at least both countries are also statistically more likely to enjoy a decent summer.
Despite our financial woes, more than half of Irish respondents said they intended to travel abroad this year, the third-highest rate of nationalities surveyed.
More than a quarter of Irish people have no firm holiday plans, although this may signify disorganisation rather than lack of intent, with just 0.4 per cent saying they will not holiday this year.
Spain is the most popular destination for the Irish to visit, at 15 per cent, followed by the United States at 12 per cent.
Almost a third of Irish respondents said cultural heritage was the biggest factor in visiting a country, compared to 27 per cent of other Europeans who cited this as their main reason to visit a destination.
Entertainment on holiday came in as the second most important draw for the Irish at 25 per cent compared to 14 per cent of other European respondents.
The top destinations among those who plan to travel abroad were Spain at 6.6 per cent, Italy at 5.8 per cent, France at 4.4 per cent, the US at 3.5 per cent and Greece at 3.1 per cent.
Italy takes the lead for most popular holiday destinations when domestic visitors are taken into account, with 11.5 per cent of Europeans planning to travel there this year, followed by Spain at 8.6 per cent, France at 8.2 per cent, Germany at 5.2 per cent and the UK at 3.9 per cent.
The Flash Eurobarometer survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism was conducted at the request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry. Fieldwork was carried out between February 24th and 28th.
The sample size varied between countries, ranging from about 500 in the smallest to about 2,000 in the largest.
In Ireland, the study was carried out by Gallup, who interviewed 1,000 people.
EUROPEAN TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS:
0.6%
of people from EU member states plan to travel to Ireland in 2011.
18%
of Irish people plan to holiday at home.
0.4%
of Irish people will not holiday this year.
15%
of Irish holidaymakers intend to travel to Spain.