The Central Statistics Office (CSO) reports that the largest group of visitors came from Britain, making up 34.9 percent, followed by the United States at 20.2 percent, and Germany at 7.4 percent.

These visitors collectively spent 4,462,100 nights in the country, a slight decrease of 0.3 percent from May 2023.

The primary reason for travel to Ireland was holiday or leisure, accounting for 45.1 percent of the visits.

In total, visitors spent €810.6 million on their trips, marking a 29 percent increase compared to May 2023.

Gregg Patrick, a statistician with the CSO’s tourism and travel division, stated: “The results show that 622,300 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024, an increase of 8.5 percent compared with May 2023.

“Of these visitors, 34.9 percent were from Great Britain, 20.2 percent from the United States, and 7.4 percent from Germany. Their visits typically lasted 7.2 nights.

“Their most common reason for visiting (45.1 percent) was for holiday or leisure purposes.”

About half of the visitors stayed in hotels, with the average cost of their visit being €1,303. This cost includes €334 for fare, €51 for prepayments, €437 for accommodation, and €480 for day-to-day expenses. A year earlier, the average cost was €1,096.

Of the 622,300 foreign visitors who left Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024, the highest proportion was from Britain, totalling 217,200 visitors (34.9 percent). The United States followed with 125,400 visitors (20.1 percent), and Germany with 46,300 visitors (7.4 percent).

This visitor profile is similar to May 2023, when 34.8 percent were from Britain, 18.4 percent from the United States, and 7.7 percent from Germany.

In May 2024, foreign visitors spent a total of 4,462,100 nights in Ireland. European visitors (excluding Britain) accounted for 1,669,100 nights (37.4 percent), while visitors from the United States and Canada spent 1,248,800 nights (28.0 percent). British visitors accounted for 1,041,300 nights (23.3 percent), and other visitors made up 502,800 nights (11.3 percent).

Compared to May 2023, the total number of visitor nights remained relatively stable, decreasing by just 0.3 percent.

Overall, 2,057,800 passengers left Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024, an 8.4 percent increase from May 2023. Most departing passengers were Irish residents traveling for tourism or other purposes, comprising 61 percent. Another 8.8 percent were same-day visitors, including Northern Ireland residents using Republic of Ireland airports or seaports (3.3 percent), foreign resident transfer passengers (4.6 percent), and other foreign resident same-day visitors (0.9 percent). Foreign resident overnight visitors made up 30.2 percent of the departing passengers, totalling 622,300 visitors.