The number of trips made by overseas visitors to Ireland increased by 5% in the final quarter of 2004 compared with the same period a year earlier.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that there were just over 1.4 million visits in the quarter. There was a fall of 0.2% in the numbers travelling from Britain, but the number from the US and Canada grew by nearly 6%, while the figure for other European countries showed a rise of 17.5% on Q4 2003.
A breakdown of the tourism figures shows that the number of bed nights spent in guest houses and bed & breakfasts fell by nearly 10% compared with the same period a year earlier. The figure for hotels was up 6.7%.
The number of Irish visits abroad in the quarter was just under 1.2 million, up 10.8% on the same period in 2003, with particularly strong growth on transatlantic routes.
