Last month saw a 3.2% increase in inbound passenger arrivals into Ireland – compared to pre-Covid May 2019 levels – according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Nearly 1.9 million passengers arrived in Ireland in May, up from just under 1.6 million in the same month in 2022.
The figure covers both plane and ship journeys and includes Irish people returning home.
Commenting on the latest data, Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division of the CSO, said: “The latest Air and Sea Travel Statistics show that 1,877,900 passengers arrived in Ireland on overseas routes in May 2023. These passengers, comprising foreign visitors arriving in Ireland and Irish overseas travellers returning home, represented a substantial increase on May 2022, when 1,592,400 passengers arrived on overseas routes. This growth is even more substantial when compared with May 2021 when just 85,400 passengers arrived on these routes. Passenger arrivals are higher than pre-pandemic May 2019, when 1,818,900 passengers arrived on overseas routes, representing an increase of 3.2%.
“The recovery is seen in both modes of travel (air and sea), although the recovery in air travel is most pronounced, as it was up by 17.9% in May 2023 compared with May 2022. The recovery is also spread across all major routes, with transatlantic traffic up most (27.3%) in relative terms, increasing from 171,300 in May 2022 to 218,000 in May 2023. Among the continental routes, Spanish routes remain the busiest, with 264,900 passengers arriving on these routes in May 2023, up 20.3% on May 2022.
“However, in overall terms, Great Britain remained the most important departure country for overseas travel to Ireland, with 623,900 passengers arriving on air and sea routes from Great Britain in May 2023, compared with just 536,200 in May 2022.”
