Overseas travel falls 10.5% in 2009

Overseas trips by Irish residents fell by 10.5 per cent during the first four months of the year, the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

The total number of trips abroad during the period was 2,119,200 compared with 2,367,300 recorded between January and April last year.

Trips abroad by Irish residents during April fell by 4.2 per cent to 579,400 compared with the same month last year.

The figures, which did not give a breakdown of the destinations travelled to by Irish residents, represent a reversal of the 7.9 per cent growth in trips abroad observed in the first four months of 2008.

Overseas trips to Ireland also fell by 6.3 per cent to 2,010,000 during the first four months of the year.

But overseas trips to Ireland in April increased slightly to 607,800 on the same month last year which the CSO said reflected the fact that Easter occurred in April of this year compared to March of last year.

The number of trips to Ireland from Britain during the month fell by 9,800 (3.3 per cent) to 291,400 but this was offset by increase in trips by residents from other countries in Europe which rose 13,300 (6.5 per cent) to 219,300.

The Irish Travel Agents' Association said the figures tally “accurately” with what airlines are reporting in terms of their quarterly numbers.

The association's chief executive, Simon Nugent, said: “Given the change in the economy, the drop in numbers traveling overseas is not particularly surprising and if anything suggests more people are hanging on to their travel plans.”

Mr Nugent said it has been hard to project ahead this year as it has been a season late-bookings, with many people making last-minute travel plans.

“There has been a pattern of people hanging on to see the impact of the budget on real wages before deciding on where to go,” he said.

A survey of travel insurance policies taken up for next July and August by Mondial Assistance, which administers insurance on behalf of several major airlines in Europe including Aer Lingus, has found that Irish holiday-makers are returning to the more traditional European sun spots in favour of the long-haul destinations.

According to Mondial’s travel barometer, some 28 per cent of the policies taken up by Irish people this year were for Spanish holidays compared with 21 per cent for the same two months last year.

There were also rises in the number of policies covering leisure flights to France, Italy and Portugal.

However, the barometer indicates there was decline in customers booking insurance on long-haul flights to the US, which fell 4 per cent on the same period last year.

Director general of Mondial Assistance Ireland Martin Lyons said: "The figures show more Irish holiday-makers are choosing to fly to Spain on their summer holidays this year, than in 2008.

Mr Lyons said: “Flights booked by our customers to the UK, France and Portugal are also up on last year's figures, which appears to show that sun holidays to more traditional locations are growing in popularity."

"On the otherhand, we're seeing a decline in customers booking long-haul flights this summer, especially to the US, which suggests people are choosing to holiday closer to home."