There was a 7.3% increase in the number of visitors to Ireland in the first three months of the year when compared to the same period last year, according to the Central Statistics Office.
More than 1.25 million trips were made to the country between January and the end of March, 85,000 more than in the first three months of 2012.
The number of nights spent in Ireland increased by a similar percentage – rising by 500,000 to 8.4 million.
As a consequence the amount earned by the travel and tourism industry from overseas visitors jumped 10.8% to €688 million when compared to the first quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile the number of Irish residents making overseas trips between January and March was down 2.1% to 1.23 million.
However the amount spent by these travellers was up 0.9% to €828 million.
Overseas trips by Irish residents up slightly in 2012
There were 6.6 million outbound trips by Irish residents last year, according to the CSO, 1.3% higher than the number recorded in 2011.
The number of domestic trips fell by 1.9% to just over 7 million, however, with total domestic travel expenditure falling to €1.34 billion.
Irish residents spent a €5.34 billion on overseas trips during the year, the majority of which (56.7%) were categorised as holidays. Meanwhile 23.9% of foreign trips undertaken last year were for the purpose of visiting friends or relatives.
The vast majority of trips last year – 86% - were to European Union countries, while 5.6% were to North America.
Just 1% of trips were to Australia, New Zealand or Oceania, however these trips tended to involve the longest stay – 25 nights on average.
Around 48% of all domestic trips were classed as holidays, while 33.8% were made to visit friends or relatives.
Domestic visitors staying hotels accounted for 2.8 million of all trips, while those staying with relatives or friends accounted for 2.5 million trips.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland welcomed the CSO figures, saying they suggest a "bright start to the year".
RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins said: “The introduction and continuation of the 9% VAT rate for restaurants since July 2011 is a major contributing factor to these positive figures."
