The number of overseas trips to Ireland in the last three months of 2012 increased by 5 per cent on the same period in 2011, CSO figures reveal.
From October to December 1,438,000 trips to Ireland were made from abroad, an increase of 68,300 compared to 12 months earlier.
Trips by residents of North America increased by 14.2 per cent to 201,300. Visits from European countries other than the UK increased by 8.8 per cent to 505,400 while visits from other areas increased by 15.5 per cent to 85,000. The number of visitors from Great Britain decreased by 1.3 per cent to 646,400.
The number of overseas trips made by Irish residents from October to December increased by 3.8 per cent to 1,360,400.
Irish residents made a total of 6,325,800 overseas trips in 2012, an increase of 0.5 per cent over 2011. The number of trips to Ireland in 2012 increased by 0.2 per cent to 6,517,200.
The summer months saw the greatest number of trips to Ireland, with over 2 million in the third quarter of the year while the first three months of 2012 attracted the lowest number of visitors, with some 1.16 million trips made.
