New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish residents in February 2007 took 19% more trips abroad than in the same month in 2006, but that trips into Ireland were almost unchanged.
In the month Irish residents took 494,600 trips abroad, with overseas trips into Ireland up by just 0.4% to 460,600.
Trips to Ireland from residents from Great Britain fell 12.8% in February to 254,100 visitors, while trips from residents from other parts of Europe rose by 36.7% to 153,200.
Trips to Ireland by Canadian and US residents in the month fell by 4% to 40,700, and visitors from other areas fell 2.3% to 12,500.
A breakdown shows that visitors from France increased to 30,600 in February, compared to 18,500 visitors in January 2007. Visitors from Australia fell back to 3,300 in the month, compared to 6,900 in January.
