Irish people's choice of destination for a sun holiday has extended to new resorts such as Croatia and Turkey, but Spain and Portugal still remain the favourites.
The chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents' Association (ITAA), Mr Brenda Moran, said this year there has been a change in the choice of resorts and the type of holidays.
He said places like Croatia, Greece and Turkey were making a comeback, but 65 per cent of Irish people were still going to Spain and Portugal, including the Canary and Balearic Islands. There was a change in the type of holiday, and people were taking more self-package orientated holidays, for instance hiring a cruiser.
While Budget Travel said people were more cautious about money and were booking at the last minute, Falcon and JWT Holidays said families had booked since the beginning of the year.
A Falcon and JWT Holidays spokesman said there was still great value for money abroad, and eating and drinking out was still far cheaper than at home.
"We are seeing perhaps shifting sands around. It's the first full year that schools have had to conform to the same set holidays, and it has had some impact. Some people are moving to take holidays in July/August."
The spokesman said Spain and the Canaries were still the most popular, but Italy, Slovenia and Croatia were on the increase.
A spokeswoman for Budget Travel said this year started off slow, but bookings for this month and August had picked up in the last week.