Irish residents took almost 9 million domestic trips last year, figures released by the Central Statistics Office today show.
This marks an increase of 4.4 per cent on the previous year's figures, and a 7.9 per cent rise since 2008.
Each trip lasted for an average of three nights, resulting in a total of 26.9 million bed nights for the hospitality industry.
More than three-quarters of people on domestic trips stayed between one and three nights, while just over one fifth stayed four or more nights.
Less than half of all trips taken within Ireland were classified as holidays, while over 3 million trips were to visit friends or relatives.
The number of people staying in hotels was down 5.7 per cent on the previous year, accounting for 3.4 million trips.
Domestic trips were worth €1.8 billion to the Irish economy last year. More than €1 billion was spent by people on holidays, while those visiting friends or relatives spent just over €397 million.
Over 6.6 million overseas trips were taken by Irish residents in 2011, a fall of 17.7 per cent since 2008. The majority of trips taken last year were to countries within the EU.
The average person spent 8.3 nights abroad, amounting to a total of 54.8 million bed nights. The average increased to 14.4 nights in North America and 30.6 nights in Australia, New Zealand ad Oceania.
The UK remains the most popular destination for travel from Ireland, accounting for 2.4 million trips in 2011.
More than half of all overseas trips were taken for holiday purposes, while more than a quarter were for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives.
A total of €5.48 billion was spent by Irish residents on overseas travel in 2011, of which €3.1 billion was spent on holidays, €1.09 billion on visiting friends or relatives, and €711 million on business trips. Over two thirds of expenditure was spent in the EU.
