New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of trips to Ireland rose by 7.4% in the three months from January to March.
A total of 1,251,700 trips were made here in the three month period, up 86,600 on the same time last year.
Breaking down the figures they show that trips by residents of North America jumped by 16.7% to 168,800, while trips by residents of Europe rose by 13%. Trips by UK residents increased by 1.4% to 570,200.
The CSO also said today that the total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents fell by 2.1% to 1,208,900 in the first three months of the year compared the same time in 2012.
