Irish people spent more money abroad last year than foreign visitors spent here, according to data suggesting many people took advantage of cheaper travel and the strong euro.
The tourism and travel statistics from the Central Statistics Office also show the number Irish people travelling on transatlantic routes grew by 37.3 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2002.
A breakdown of expenditure show that earnings from all visitors to Ireland in 2003 amounted to €4,078 million while expenditure abroad by Irish citizens amounted to €4,210 million.
Total visits to Ireland which include business travellers and day trippers amounted to 6.3 million last year while visits by Irish people abroad amounted to 4.9 million.
There were 1.36 million visits to Ireland in the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with 1.28 million in the same period last year, an increase of 5.8 per cent.
The number of visitors from the United States grew by 6.3 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2002 - which was affected by the build-up to the Iraq war.
The number of Irish visits abroad between October and December 2003 was 1,074,000, an increase of 9.5 per cent on the corresponding period last year.
Irish people spent more money abroad last year than foreign visitors spent here, according to data suggesting many people took advantage of cheaper travel and the strong euro.
The tourism and travel statistics from the Central Statistics Office also show the number Irish people travelling on transatlantic routes grew by 37.3 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2002.
A breakdown of expenditure show that earnings from all visitors to Ireland in 2003 amounted to €4,078 million while expenditure abroad by Irish citizens amounted to €4,210 million.
Total visits to Ireland which include business travellers and day trippers amounted to 6.3 million last year while visits by Irish people abroad amounted to 4.9 million.
There were 1.36 million visits to Ireland in the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with 1.28 million in the same period last year, an increase of 5.8 per cent.
The number of visitors from the United States grew by 6.3 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2002 - which was affected by the build-up to the Iraq war.
The number of Irish visits abroad between October and December 2003 was 1,074,000, an increase of 9.5 per cent on the corresponding period last year.
Commenting on the results, Tourism Ireland's, chief executive Mr Paul O'Toole, said: " Obviously we are pleased to see that Ireland gained market share against many of our top European competitors, however that growth did not translate to the bottom line for many in the industry, particularly those in the western seaboard who are more reliant on the North American market.
While that market started to recover last year, we are still a long way off the numbers recorded in 2000.
There are a number of other global factors that also impacted on the flat revenue growth last year including weak source market economies and the trend towards shorter visitor stays resulting in lower levels of spend".
Mr O'Toole said: "These factors have combined to intensify competition internationally and while this can be good for consumer choice it puts pressure on the value earned by the industry from overseas visitors and the profitability of individual enterprises".
"An improving economic environment worldwide should help increase consumers' disposable incomes and encourage them to travel further afield this year.
We are therefore actively targeting a change in our visitor mix with the objective of attracting more higher-spending visitors."
We have invested heavily again in the US this year and our New York office reports strong interest in the island of Ireland in the first two months of this year despite the weak dollar.
This is our most lucrative market in terms of high spend and we are hopeful for a continuing recovery from that market this year".
"In Great Britain, our largest market, we also have extensive investment in marketing campaigns and this year we are piloting new initiatives targeting the family market which offers good opportunities," he said.