CSO figures for April 2024 indicate inbound tourism to Ireland was down 3.8pc on 2024 and 43.7pc on pre-pandemic. Easter occurred in April 2025, which would suggest that visitor number should have increased.
Outbound travel by Irish residents was up 21.3pc on 2024 and 67.9pc on pre-pandemic.
The methodology of the CSO was changed during pandemic but there has also been comment that a sharp decline in inbound numbers in the first quarter of 2025 did not reflect experience on the ground.
The latest figures show:
- 528,100 foreign resident overnight visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes, a 4pc decrease compared to April 2024 (549,100 visitors) but a 14pc increase compared to April 2023.
- The 528,100 visitors spent €375m (excluding fares), down 10pc from April 2024.
- The average cost per trip was €995, compared to €1,033 in April 2024.
- Reasons for Visit: The most frequent reason for visiting Ireland in April 2025 was likely holidays, as seen in previous months (e.g., 36pc in March 2025, 41.6pc in April 2024).
- hotels were the most popular accommodation type, followed by staying with family or friends.
- 9.1pc of departing passengers in April 2024 were same-day visitors, including residents of the six counties (3.7pc), foreign resident transfer passengers (3.9pc), and other same-day visitors (1.5pc). Similar proportions are likely for April 2025.
- Britain was up 1.6pc on 2024 and down 41.3pc on pre-pandemic
- Europe was down 12.7pc and down 48,7pc on pre-pandemic
- USA and Canada combined was down 5.2pc on 2024 (USA up 4.4pc, Canada down 32.9pc) and North America overall down 43.7pc on pre-pandemic
- France was down 8.5pc on 2024 and 47..7pc on pre-pandemic
- Germany was down 9.3 on 2024 and 51.5pc on pre-pandemic
- Italy was down 23.2 on 2024 and 53.0pc on pre-pandemic
- Spain was down 12.7 on 2024 and 38.1pc on pre-pandemic
- Australia and NZ unchanged since 2o24 but down 44.1pc on pre-pandemic
The decline in visitor numbers and spending in April 2025 contrasts with a 29pc increase in expenditure in May 2024 (€810.6m) and a peak in visitor numbers in August 2023 (737,600). The downward trend since September 2024 reflects a broader softening in tourism demand.
The CSO’s Inbound Tourism series uses the Passenger Survey, conducted at Irish airports and seaports, with over 13,000 passengers surveyed monthly. The data excludes residents of the six counties visiting Ireland and those departing via ports and airports in the north.
The CSO noted a consistent decline in inbound tourism since September 2024, with April 2025 continuing this trend (4pc drop year-on-year). However, industry stakeholders, including Fáilte Ireland, have expressed concerns that these figures may not align with on-the-ground. The Irish Tourism Industry Conferedatoin have initiated discussions with the CSO to reconcile data discrepancies
Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, shared “Industry use a variety of data sources, both their own and independently collated, and April was a strong month compared to the same month last year. Industry record bums on seats and heads on pillows as opposed to the CSO sample survey – there remains a misalignment of sorts between the two data sources but it is narrowing and this is welcome. Although this represents a recovery from the sharp decline reported by the Agency in the first quarter there nonetheless remains somewhat of a disconnect between the monthly CSO survey and industry data. The latter includes airports, airlines, hotels and attractions which reported a solid April compared to a year ago helped by a later Easter period.”
Michael Magner president of the Irish Hotel Federation shared: “while there is still a difference between the published figures and industry data, the April figures are more aligned with what businesses have been reporting on the ground. Our own industry figures, for example, show that hotels achieved average room occupancies of 77pc in April compared with 74.5pc for the same month last year. Meanwhile we have seen a 2pc increase in bookings for the first four months of the year. From an industry perspective, this would suggest that overall tourism activity continues to hold up so far in 2025, despite the significant difficulties faced by tourism and hospitality businesses.”
“We are concerned about the overall drop in tourism spend which the CSO are reporting for April, down 10pc compared with the same month last year. This would appear to be part of wider a trend so far this year, according to CSO figures. If this continues into the summer, it would pose an enormous challenge for tourism businesses throughout the country that are already struggling to deal with unsustainable increases in the cost of doing business right across our industry.”
