Overseas visitor numbers and revenue hit another high in 2017, as global travel continued to grow, with most destinations enjoying a record year in arrivals.

Revenue generated by visitors staying in Ireland topped €4.9 billion for the first time, an increase of 6.5% on the previous year.

The number of arrivals into the country was up 3.6% year on year to a record 9.9 million. Visitors staying overnight - effectively how tourists are defined - reached a new high at 8.7 million, up 3.5% on the previous year. A 7% increase in holiday visits is particularly welcome. There were also 1.2 million day visitors including 785,000 transfer trips through Dublin Airport.

The results for 2017 are characterised by double digit growth from the higher spending long haul visitors, while growth in arrivals from mainland Europe remained robust, and demand from Britain fell.

Ireland, in common with many other destinations, enjoyed the benefits of favourable economic growth and improved consumer confidence in source markets. The exception for Ireland was a dampening of demand from Britain on the back of a weakened currency and Brexit induced uncertainty. The continued expansion of air services on several key routes into Ireland was an invaluable boost to inbound tourism demand.

The 5% drop in volume and value from Britain, while not unexpected, is somewhat worrying as it would appear that Ireland lost share of the outbound British travel market.

The latest CSO data for 2017 - Tourism and Travel Quarter 4 2017 (released March 14, 2018) - provides the basis for a detailed analysis of the demand from overseas which goes beyond monthly visitor head count. The latest quarterly data provides insights into the reason for visit, expenditure patterns and key metrics of length of stay and use of accommodation. The CSO data is based on arrivals into air and sea ports in the Republic, but does not include overseas arrivals via ports in Northern Ireland. The latter will be included in Fáilte Ireland's Tourism Facts 2017 which will be published in due course.

€6.5 billion in earnings from overseas tourists in 2017

Aggregate earnings from foreign tourists to the Irish economy in 2017 were at a record €6.485 billion, represented a 6.5% increase in current terms on 2016.

€4.8 billion was spent in the country by staying visitors plus an estimated €53 million from day visitors, while Irish carriers earned an estimated €1.6 billion from visitors travelling to Ireland.

The 6.5% year on year increase added €300 million in tourism receipts benefitting businesses throughout the country, albeit that the rate of growth has slowed compared to each of the previous two years.

In value terms continental Europe continues to be the most valuable source market netting €1.77 billion, up 6.6% on the previous year. Visitor spending by North Americans, growing faster than from other markets in recent years helped by a strong dollar, increased by 14% to reach €1.5 billion last year. Spending by visitors from Britain fell in line with a drop in volume demand by 5% to €1 billion. Earnings from visitors from the rest of the world continued to grow in absolute and relative importance with a 10% increase in receipts to €577 million.

€2.76 billion spent in the country by holiday visitors was up 8% on the previous year and accounted for 56% of total earnings. Expenditure by VFR (visiting friends and relatives) visitors increased by 4% to €895m, while spending by business visitors was up 6% to €766 million.

Over the past 5 years annual receipts from North America and from the Rest of the World have each doubled. In contrast, earnings from mainland Europe have increased by 65% and from British visitors by 23% over the same period.

In recent years the return on marketing investment would appear to have been particularly strong from long haul markets which last year accounted for approximately 25% share of visitors but generated 43% of annual receipts.

Average expenditure per visit

The average spend per visit in 2017 is estimated at €553, 3% up on the previous year, reflecting the increasing relative importance of higher spending visitors from North America and further afield. The average spend varies considerably. Holiday/leisure visitor spent an average €585 per visit, which held up well as the volume increased. Business and VFR visitors spend on average €518 and €350 respectively. It would appear that the average expenditure per trip for business visitors increased as average stay increased.

Australians and New Zealanders topped the chart at close to €1,000 per visit, followed by visitors from new emerging long-haul markets spending on average €900. These long haul visitors tend to stay longer, up to an average of 14 nights, thanks to the strong ethnic links with Australia and New Zealand, combined with the upscale profile and expenditure of visitors from the new developing long haul markets particularly in Asia. North American visitors are in third place in the league of trip expenditure spending an average €725 in 2017, marginally down on the previous year as the average length of stay declined from 7.2 to 6.9 nights. Germans continue to be top European spenders with an average trip expenditure in Ireland of €586, while the majority of other Europeans spend close to €500 per visit. British visitors with the shortest average stay in the country spend the least per visit, an average of €270, unchanged from the previous year.

A note of caution may be appropriate as the data is based on sample surveys at point of departure, with the robustness of the data dependent on the accuracy of recall by visitors of their expenditure in the country.