The north’s tourism sector experienced a strong recovery in 2025, with overnight trips and visitor spending both increasing by 9pc compared to 2024. Data from NISRA shows that the 5.1m overnight trips generated a total of £1.2bn in visitor expenditure.
Growth was primarily driven by holidaymakers crossing the border. Overnight trips from the grew 15pc to 1.3m, while their spending surged 31pc to £317m.
External visitors including the 26 counties made up 66pc of all overnight stays, while the remaining 34pc came from the domestic six counties market. Total overnight stays remained stable at 15m nights (a 1pc rise), indicating that tourists took shorter but more frequent trips with higher average spending per night.
Visitor Origin Shares
- Domestic Market (NI Residents): 1.8m trips (34pc)
- Britain (GB): 1.5m trips (29pc)
- 26 counties: 1.3m trips (26pc)
- Other International Overseas: 0.6m trips (11pc)
