OVERSEAS TRIPS by Irish residents fell by 15.4 per cent in March compared with the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The total number of trips abroad so far this year was 1,539,800, down 12.6 per cent on the first three months of 2008.
The figures, which did not give a breakdown of the destinations travelled to by Irish residents, represent a reversal of the 11.9 per cent growth in trips abroad observed in the first quarter of last year.
The number of overseas trips to Ireland in March fell by 16 per cent to 532,800 when compared with March 2008.
The CSO said the "principal determining factor" in the monthly decline was a drop of more than 96,000 (26.3 per cent) in the number of trips made from Britain, which totalled 269,400.
The number of trips to Ireland made by residents of North America fell just over 8 per cent to 59,600, while those from other Europe actually increased by 2.8 per cent to 190,100.
The total number of visits to Ireland for the first quarter of 2009 was 1,402,200, down 9.1 per cent on the corresponding period last year.
The Irish Travel Agents' Association said the drop in inbound and outbound travel for March was "largely attributable" to Easter falling in April rather than March.
The association's chief executive, Simon Nugent, said a significant proportion of the Easter market was made up of people coming home from abroad, especially from Britain, or visiting relatives overseas.
As Easter fell during March last year, the comparison was always going to exaggerate the decline, he said.
Mr Nugent said that airports and carriers were reporting a 10-11 per cent drop in traffic so far this year. "Realistically, we would expect to see that carried through for the full year," he said.
Agents have also noticed people are booking their holidays later this year, so advanced bookings are significantly down on last year.
"This is probably because people are holding on and waiting to see where they stand before they commit to their travel arrangements," he said.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole said global tourism was facing one of the most difficult years of the past decade.
"It's more competitive than ever before in the international marketplace, with every tourist board in the world vying for a piece of the smaller pie," Mr O'Toole said.
