RIP Laura Buckley Noonan
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The number of foreign visitors to Ireland dropped by 10% in May compared to the same month last year, according to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
A total of 560,500 people visited the state last month.
The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 7.3 nights, up from an average of 7.2 nights in May 2024, and down from 7.8 nights in May 2023.
Over 560,000 foreign visitors to Ireland in May 2025, spending €477 millionhttps://t.co/1g4JAlZLKx#CSOIreland #Ireland #Tourism #Travel #Holidays #LoveIreland #OverseasTravel #AirAndSeaTravel #Aviation #InboundTourism #HouseholdTravel #TravelSurvey pic.twitter.com/WEZSbHbiqP
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 30, 2025
Visitors stayed a total of 4.1 million nights in the country, a drop of 8% when compared with May 2024, and down 9% when compared with May 2023.
The visitors spent 477 million euros on their trips, excluding fares, down 21% compared with May 2024, and no change compared with May 2023.
The largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain at 35%, followed by visitors from the United States at 25%.
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for a holiday (43%).
Compared with May 2024, visitors from Great Britain declined by 9%, visitors from Continental Europe decreased by 21%, and visitors from the rest of the world fell by 38%.
In contrast, visitors from North America were up 11%.
Compared with May 2023, visitors from Great Britain were down by 1%, Continental Europe by 22%, and the rest of the world by 9%, whilst visitors from North America were up 33%.
Gregg Patrick, statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said: “The results show that 560,500 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in May 2025, down 10% compared with May 2024 and by 2% compared with May 2023.
“In May 2025, the greatest number of visitors came from Great Britain (35%), followed by Continental Europe (31%), North America (29%) and the Rest of the World (4%).”
The visitors’ expenditure in Ireland, excluding fares, was 477 million euros.
Visitors from Great Britain accounted for 99 million euro (21%) of this spend, Continental Europe for 143 million euro (30%), North America for 207 million euro (43%), and visitors from the rest of the world for 29 million euro (6%).
Taken together, this represented a fall of 21% compared with May 2024, and no change compared with May 2023.
The most frequent reason for the journey was for a holiday or leisure (43%). Their second most frequent reason was to visit friends or relatives (31%).
More of the visitors stayed in a hotel (47%) than in any other accommodation type, and the typical visit lasted 7.3 nights.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
