TOURS UPTURN:A MILLION IRISH people are expected to pack their bags and head off on a summer holiday with a tour operator this year, according to the Irish Tour Operators Federation (ITOF).
The federation, which represents the country's major tour operators, reports a 5 per cent increase in summer-holiday sales this year.
An ITOF analysis of holdiay bookings for 2008 shows that the five most popular regions for a package holiday are the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, mainland Spain, Portugal and Greece. The most most popular destinations within those regions are Majorca, Lanzarote, Portugal, Gran Canaria and Costa Dorada.
With the weak dollar, Florida is proving very popular this year. Bulgaria and Egypt are emerging as strong new destinations.
Meanwhile, Central Statistics Office figures published this week show that Irish people spent more than €6.16 billion during trips abroad in 2007.
The statistics show that Irish residents took 7,713,000 overseas trips last year, compared with 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.
ITOF president Damien Mooney, managing director of Falcon JWT Holidays, said this week the summer holiday is still sacred to Irish holidaymakers, regardless of economic conditions, and remains an essential part of our busy lifestyles.
ITOF members include American Holidays, Budget Travel, Crystal Holidays, Falcon JWT Holidays, Panorama, Airtours, Stein Travel, Sunway, Sunworld Holidays and Topflight.