New Central Statistics Office figures show that Irish residents spent a total of 8.6 million nights on domestic trips in the second quarter of this year, up 5% compared with the number of nights spent in the second quarter of 2023.
But the CSO said the average length of stay on domestic trips decreased from 2.2 nights in 2023 to 2 nights this year.
Holiday trips accounted for the largest share of trips by reason, at 48%, followed by visits to friends or relatives at 36%. Some 5% of domestic trips were for business purposes, the CSO said.
Today's figures show the most popular region visited by Irish residents on overnight trips in the three months from April to June was the Southern region (Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry), with the region accounting for 1.8 million trips.
The Northern and Western region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) had the least number of domestic overnight trips at 1.2 million trips.
Meanwhile, Irish residents spent a total of 22.7 million nights on outbound trips in the three months from April to June.
The distribution of these nights was mainly for holiday purposes, which accounted for 69% of the total. Visits to friends or relatives represented 19% of the nights, while business-related travel made up 5%.
The CSO said the total number of outbound trips remained relatively stable, showing a modest 2% growth compared with the same period in the second quarter of 2023.
The average length of stay for outbound overnight trips was six nights, up from 5.7 in the second quarter of 2023.
