Overseas Trips by Irish residents has increased by half a million since 2014

Overseas Trips by Irish residents has increased by half a million since 2014

ITAA respond to latest CSO Overseas Travel Release

Dublin, 2nd September 2016  The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has welcomed today’s CSO statistics on Overseas Travel which show an increase on the number of trips made by Irish residents overseas from May to July 2016. The results of the survey show that 2.25 million overseas trips were undertaken by Irish residents during the period May – July 2016, an increase of 3.7% over the same period last year.

The CSO statistics show a steady growth in overseas travel by Irish residents over the past number of years. Since 2014 the total number of Irish residents travelling overseas in the first 7 months of the year (January to July) has increased by over half a million.

Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA, commented “Yesterday’s CSO statistics for Tourism and Travel showed that Irish people spent over €1.2 million in the sector in Quarter 2 of 2016, an increase of 6.2%, and today we see further evidence of the extraordinary growth in the number of Irish travelling overseas. This is very positive news for the Irish travel industry and a very welcome result after the many challenges the sector has faced in recent years.”

The results showed that the UK remains the most popular destination for Irish travellers and the number of Irish travelling there in the months of May to July of this year has reached over 1 million.

The ITAA represents Ireland’s travel Industry, bringing together 100 travel agent members and 70 affiliate partners. ITAA members cover over 140 outlets in different towns and cities throughout the Republic of Ireland. All travel agent members are licensed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation and are fully bonded providing full financial protection for their customers.