Irish people spent more than €6.16 billion during trips abroad in 2007, according to Central Statistics Office data released today.
The figure is €1.26 billion more than the amount spent by visitors to Irish shores, who spent €4.9 billion during 2007.
Fine Gael's tourism spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said the figures were "a serious cause for concern". She pointed out that, in one year alone, the net outflow doubled – from €626 million to €1,261 million.
"Irish tourism must watch its competitiveness and there is a need to develop smart tourism products, like activity-based and cultural packages, to get the maximum economic benefit from Ireland's natural assets," she added.
The CSO figures also show that Irish residents took 13 per cent more trips abroad last year than in 2006. A total of 7,713,000 overseas trips were taken compared to 6,848,000 in 2006. The number of trips to Continental Europe totalled 4,583,000 in 2007, an increase of 19 per cent on 2006.
Overseas visits by Irish residents on transatlantic routes in 2007 increased by 14 per cent to 441,000, according to the data. The number of trips to Britain by air increased by 5 per cent while the number of such trips by boat fell by 2 per cent.
There were 8,012,000 overseas visits to Ireland in 2007, compared with 7,709,000 in 2006, an increase of 4 per cent. The number of visitors from Continental European increased by 18 per cent, while the number of visits on cross-channel routes fell by 4 per cent. The number of visits by residents of other European countries grew in 2007 by 14 per cent.
The number of visits to Ireland for the purpose of business increased by 10 per cent while the number of visits to friends or relatives fell by 3 per cent.
The data also shows the number of nights spent in hotels by overseas visitors to Ireland grew by 12 per cent on 2006. In the same period, the number of bednights spent in guest houses or B&Bs by overseas visitors to Ireland fell by 11 per cent. The average length of stay of overseas visits to Ireland during 2007 was 7.3 nights, compared to an average of 8.1 nights for visits by Irish residents abroad.
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen welcomed the figures and said they demonstrate the strong performance of Irish tourism last year.
“Over 8 million overseas visitors came to Ireland with associated expenditure amounting to almost €5 billion – an increase of 4.5 per cent on the 2006 amount,” Mr Cullen added.
He acknowledged that 2008 is likely to be more challenging for Irish tourism. “I realise I have assumed responsibility for tourism after many successive years of growth and that economic factors in key markets, particularly Great Britain and North America will pose challenges for us.”
