Official figures show that the number of trips made by overseas visitors to Ireland last year was just over eight million, an increase of 4% on 2006. The number of trips abroad by Irish people increased by 13% to 7.7 million, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Visits from Britain were flat at four million, but trips from the rest of Europe showed a 14% rise. North American visitor numbers rose marginally to just over one million.
A breakdown showed that the number of people travelling to Ireland by air from Britain fell by 4% last year. The figures also showed that visits to Ireland for business reasons grew by 10%.
The number of bednights spent by overseas visitors in hotels grew by 12%, but the figure for guest houses and bed & breakfasts dropped by 11%. The average length of people's stay in Ireland was 7.3 nights.
The figures show that Irish people spent €6.1 billion on their trips abroad, outweighing the €4.9 billion spent by visitors here.
