The number of Irish residents traveling on transatlantic routes soared by 37.3% in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office today .
The CSO figures also reveal that in the last three months of 2003, the total number of Irish visits abroad was up 9.5% to 1.074 million. Irish residents travelling abroad on cross channel routes grew by 4.2% while the number travelling on continental routes increased by almost 13%.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors to Ireland during the last quarter of 2003 increased by 5.8% from 1.286 million to 1.360 million compared to the same time the previous year. The visitors included tourists and business people.
The CSO figures shows the number of overseas visits on cross channel routes were up by 5.5% while the number on continental routes increased by 5.7% on the same quarter in 2002. The number of visitors from North America was also higher in the fourth quarter of last year, up 6.3% on 2002.
The expenditure figures for the October to December period show a net outflow of _58m. Earnings from visitors to the country amounted to _803m while Irish residents spent a total of _861m while abroad.
