Official figures show that the number of trips made to Ireland so far this year is down by almost 600,000 compared with the same period last year.
The Central Statistics Office said there were just under 4.9 million trips to Ireland by overseas visitors in the first eight months of 2009, down 10.9% or more than 596,000 from August last year. Trips abroad by Irish residents were down 10.3% to just under 4.95 million.
For August alone, trips to Ireland were down 12% from the same month last year at 823,100. The number of visits from Britain slumped by 25%, but there was a 7% increase in trips from North America. Irish visits abroad were 11.5% lower in August at 748,600.
For the first eight months of the year, visits from Britain are down more than 16%, while North American visits are 2.7% lower. Trips from the rest of Europe are down 5.8%.
