By Irishexaminer.com Ronan Smyth
The average length of stay was 7.3 nights.
Cumulatively, these visitors spent a total of €477m on their trips, excluding fares, which is down 21% year-on-year. Overall, the typical foreign visitor spent €1,186 on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €334 on their fare, €39 on prepayments, €400 on accommodation, and €413 on day-to-day expenses.
Over 560,000 foreign visitors to Ireland in May 2025, spending €477 millionhttps://t.co/1g4JAlZLKx#CSOIreland #Ireland #Tourism #Travel #Holidays #LoveIreland #OverseasTravel #AirAndSeaTravel #Aviation #InboundTourism #HouseholdTravel #TravelSurvey pic.twitter.com/WEZSbHbiqP— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 30, 2025
CSO data shows inbound tourism has been in decline since September last year, but tourism organisations have repeatedly pushed back against these figures, saying they do not match up with what their members are seeing on the ground.
It has been reported the CSO has met with a number of tourism organisations over the last few months over this issue.
The CSO data shows the largest contingent of visitors during May came from Britain, with 198,500 people making the trip across the Irish sea followed by visitors from the United States, which accounted for 139,200 visitors.
The third highest proportion came from France, comprising a further 39,800 visitors.
Visitors from Britain accounted for €99m of the total tourism spend, while continental Europe accounted for €143m and North America accounted for €207m.
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for holiday, cited by 43%, while 31% said it was to visit friends or relatives.
In terms of people flying out of the country, just under 2.16 million passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes during the month — a 4.9% increase year-on-year.
The majority of departing passengers, 64.8%, were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes.