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Tourism industry in Egypt - statistics & facts

The rich history and marine life attract tourists, the egyptian tourism sector faced a series of negative events, key insights.

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Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033

Travel & Tourism market - Revenue forecast worldwide* 2020 - 2028

African countries with the largest international tourism receipts 2022

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Tourist expenditure in Egypt 2008-2022

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Share of leisure and business tourist spending Egypt 2019-2022, by segment

Number of European tourists arriving in Egypt 2013-2022

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Regional overview.

• Premium Statistic Share of travel and tourism in Africa’s GDP 2019 -2023
• Basic Statistic Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Africa 2008-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals in Northern Africa 2014-2029
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist departures in Northern Africa 2014-2029
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals in selected African countries 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic African countries with the largest international tourism receipts 2022

Share of travel and tourism in Africa’s GDP 2019 -2023

Share of travel and tourism in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2019 to 2023

Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Africa 2008-2023

Share of the travel and tourism sector in employment in Africa from 2008 to 2023

Number of international tourist arrivals in Northern Africa 2014-2029

Number of international tourist arrivals in Northern Africa from 2014 to 2029 (in millions)

Number of international tourist departures in Northern Africa 2014-2029

Number of international tourist departures in Northern Africa from 2014 to 2029 (in millions)

Number of international tourist arrivals in selected African countries 2019-2022

Selected African countries with the largest number of international tourist arrivals in 2019 to 2022 (in millions)

Selected African countries with the largest international tourism receipts in 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Economic contribution

• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Egypt 2005-2023
• Basic Statistic Value added of travel and tourism to GDP in Egypt 2019-2023
• Basic Statistic Share of domestic and international tourist spending Egypt 2019 and 2022, by origin
• Basic Statistic Share of leisure and business tourist spending Egypt 2019-2022, by segment
• Basic Statistic Tourist expenditure in Egypt 2008-2022
• Basic Statistic Employment impacts of travel and tourism Egypt 2012-2023

Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Egypt 2005-2023

Contribution of travel and tourism to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Egypt from 2005 to 2023

Value added of travel and tourism to GDP in Egypt 2019-2023

Contribution value of travel and tourism to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Egypt from 2019 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Share of domestic and international tourist spending Egypt 2019 and 2022, by origin

Distribution of domestic and international tourist expenditure in Egypt in 2019 and 2022, by visitor origin

Distribution of leisure and business tourist expenditure in Egypt in 2019 and 2022, by segment

Tourist expenditure in Egypt from 2008 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Employment impacts of travel and tourism Egypt 2012-2023

Number of jobs in the travel and tourism sector in Egypt from 2012 to 2023 (in millions)

Inbound tourism

• Premium Statistic Number of tourist arrivals Egypt 2010-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of tourist arrivals Egypt 2019-2022, by region of origin
• Premium Statistic Number of nights spent by tourists Egypt 2019-2022, by region of origin
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arriving in Egypt 2022, by means of transportation

Number of tourist arrivals Egypt 2010-2022

Number of tourist arrivals in Egypt from 2010 to 2022 (in millions)

Number of tourist arrivals Egypt 2019-2022, by region of origin

Number of tourist arrivals in Egypt in 2019 and 2022, by region of origin (in millions)

Number of nights spent by tourists Egypt 2019-2022, by region of origin

Number of international overnight stays in Egypt in 2019 and 2022, by region of origin (in millions)

Number of international tourist arriving in Egypt 2022, by means of transportation

Number of international tourist arrivals in Egypt in 2022, by means of transportation (in 1,000s)

Tourism expenditure

• Premium Statistic Inbound tourism expenditure over exports of goods in Egypt 2008-2021
• Premium Statistic Inbound tourism expenditure over exports of services in Egypt 2008-2021
• Basic Statistic Outbound tourism expenditure in Egypt 2008-2021
• Premium Statistic Outbound tourism expenditure over imports of goods in Egypt 2008-2021
• Premium Statistic Outbound tourism expenditure over imports of services in Egypt 2008-2021

Inbound tourism expenditure over exports of goods in Egypt 2008-2021

Inbound tourism expenditure as share of exports of goods in Egypt from 2008 to 2021

Inbound tourism expenditure over exports of services in Egypt 2008-2021

Inbound tourism expenditure as share of exports of services in Egypt from 2008 to 2021

Outbound tourism expenditure in Egypt 2008-2021

Outbound tourism expenditure in Egypt from 2008 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Outbound tourism expenditure over imports of goods in Egypt 2008-2021

Outbound tourism expenditure as share of imports of goods in Egypt from 2008 to 2021

Outbound tourism expenditure over imports of services in Egypt 2008-2021

Outbound tourism expenditure as share of imports of services in Egypt from 2008 to 2021

Hotel sector

• Premium Statistic Number of hotels and similar establishments tourism industry Egypt 2008-2019
• Premium Statistic Number of rooms in hotels and similar establishments Egypt 2008-2019
• Premium Statistic Hotel room occupancy rate Egypt 2008-2019
• Premium Statistic Length of stay of international tourists in commercial accommodations Egypt 2007-2019

Number of hotels and similar establishments tourism industry Egypt 2008-2019

Number of hotels and similar establishments in the tourism industry in Egypt from 2008 to 2019

Number of rooms in hotels and similar establishments Egypt 2008-2019

Number of rooms in hotels and similar accommodation establishments in Egypt from 2008 to 2019 (in 1,000s)

Hotel room occupancy rate Egypt 2008-2019

Occupancy rate of rooms in hotels and similar accommodation establishments in Egypt from 2008 to 2019

Length of stay of international tourists in commercial accommodations Egypt 2007-2019

Average length of stay of international tourists in commercial accommodations in Egypt from 2007 to 2019 (in number of nights)

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UN Tourism systematically collects tourism statistics from countries and territories around the world in an extensive database that provides the most comprehensive repository of statistical information available on the tourism sector. This database consists mainly of more than 145 tourism indicators that are updated regularly. You can explore the data available through the UN Tourism database below:

145 Key Tourism Statistics

Data on inbound, outbound and domestic tourism, international tourism flows, tourism industries, employment and other indicators.

Economic Contribution and the SDGs

Data on the economic contribution of tourism and the implementation of relevant standards, such as the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).

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Egypt's inbound tourism witnesses 43% growth in Q1 2023

The Minister of Tourism reviewed a number of topics related to the current state of the tourism industry and inbound tourism movement in 2023.

By: Mohamed Zain

Fri, May. 12, 2023

Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa Taha, has met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to discuss updates on the tourism industry and the ministry's projects.

During the meeting, the Minister of Tourism reviewed a number of topics related to the current state of the tourism industry and inbound tourism movement in 2023, in addition to the current implementation of the National Tourism Strategy and other related topics.

The minister presented the key tourism movement expectations during 2023 and some tourism indicators. He mentioned that inbound tourism movement witnessed a growth rate of 43% during the first three months of this year, compared to the same period in 2022.

The expected tourism movement during 2023 is estimated to reach 15 million tourists, which is a significant positive indicator for the Egyptian tourism industry.

The minister also discussed the main indicators in the "Tourism Barometer" report issued by the Information and Decision Support Center, which showed optimism among tourism facilities officials regarding the tourism sector’s performance, in addition to their positive outlook towards the impact of government procedures taken in the tourism sector.

At the same time, the minister discussed the developments in the tourism sector related to the “National Tourism Strategy”, which aims to attract 30 million tourists by 2028, focusing on aviation, tourism experience, improving the investment climate and tripling the capacity of hotels and recreational activities.

The minister reviewed a number of additional measures that have been implemented to achieve the target of 15 million tourists in 2023, including facilitation of obtaining tourism visas, changing the strategy for dealing with negative tourist experiences, and developing various tourist destinations to diversify tourism activities in Egypt.

Egypt's tourism industry has been gradually recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the government's measures to revive the sector, including easing travel restrictions and promoting various tourist destinations.

According to the Central Bank of Egypt, the tourism sector's revenues increased to $2.7 billion in the first quarter of 2023, compared to $500 million in the same period in 2020.

• tourism in egypt
• Ministry of Tourism
• Inbound Tourism

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• Wednesday, 01 May 2024

Egypt’s tourism revenues hit a record $13.6 bln in FY 2022/2023

Ahram online , thursday 5 oct 2023.

Egypt’s tourism revenues hit a record high of $13.6 billion in FY2022/2023, up by 26.8 percent from $10.7 billion in FY2021/2022, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) reported on Wednesday.

Egypt seeks to increase the number of  tourists annually to 30 million, up from 15 million, by 2028.

The country’s tourism sector took a blow when Covid-19 broke out in early 2020.

In FY2020/2021, tourism revenues dropped by 50.71 percent, reaching $4.86 billion, down from $9.86 billion in FY2019/2020, but started to rise again in FY2020/2021.

Tourism is one of Egypt’s key sources of foreign currency, along with  remittances  from Egyptians abroad, the Suez Canal, and foreign direct investments.

The record revenues in tourism last year helped Egypt turn a $10.5 billion deficit in its  Balance of Payment in FY 2021/2022 into a surplus of $882 million in FY2022/2023.

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Egypt Tourism Statistics

Egypt eg: international tourism: expenditures, view egypt's egypt eg: international tourism: expenditures from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Egypt EG: International Tourism: Expenditures: % of Total Imports

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Expenditures: for Passenger Transport Items

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Expenditures: for Travel Items

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Number of Departures

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Receipts

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Receipts: % of Total Exports

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Egypt EG: International Tourism: Receipts: for Passenger Transport Items

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Egypt’s tourism achieved 36% growth rate in october 2023: tourism minister.

Egypt Today staff

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 - 03:34 GMT

CAIRO – 26 November 2023: Egypt’s tourism sector grew by more than 36 percent up until October 2023, according to Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa.

This growth rate is eight times higher than the global tourism growth rate, which stood at 4.5 percent during the same period, as reported by the World Tourism Organization.

October’s tourist traffic increased by 8 percent compared to the previous year, marking the second-highest number of tourists visiting Egypt since October 2010. The tourism minister revealed these figure at a press conference held in the ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital.

Furthermore, the first few weeks of November witnessed a significant increase in inbound tourism to Egypt, ranging from 5 percent to 10 percent, making it one of the most successful months for tourism compared to the previous year, Issa added.

Regarding the number of closed hotel rooms, Egypt recorded a decrease to 19 thousand rooms from 24 thousand closed rooms.

In October, the minister expressed Egypt's ambitious goal of attracting 30 million tourists annually by 2028, emphasizing the country's commitment to boosting tourism.

The Central Bank of Egypt reported that tourism revenues for the fiscal year 2022/2023 increased by 26.8 percent, reaching $13.6 billion compared to $10.7 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The number of inbound tourists also witnessed a notable rise of 35.6 percent, reaching approximately 13.9 million tourists. Additionally, the number of nights spent by tourists in Egypt increased by 27.6 percent, totaling 146.1 million nights in the fiscal year 2022/2023.

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2- the indicator of the number of tourist nights

The number of tourist nights increased during the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023 (July/December period) by an average of 27.2% to record about 78.4 million nights, according to central bank data.

During 2022, the number of tourist nights increased by 39.7%, reaching 131 million tourist nights, compared to 93.8 million tourist nights in 2021, and 43 million tourist nights in 2020, according to the data of the central agency for public mobilization and statistics in June 2023.

3- the carrying capacity indicator

The number of hotel establishments is about 1,199, the number of hotel rooms is about 230,000, the number of tourism companies is about 2,259, and there are about 2,160 archaeological sites, of which 134 are open for visiting, and 43 are antiquities museums, of which 31 are open for visits, and 479 diving and marine activities centers and 1,325 restaurants. And a tourist cafeteria, and 2,407 shops for ordinary and tourist goods, and about 18,190 tourist vehicles, according to the official website of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the statements of the Minister of Tourism.

The number of natural reserves in Egypt is about 30, representing an area of 13.6% of the total area of Egypt, and the number of airports is about 26 civil airports in June 2022.

4- tourism revenue index

Revenues of the tourism sector in Egypt increased during the first half of the fiscal year 2022-2023 by 25.7% compared to the same period in 2021-2022, according to central bank data.

The revenues of the tourism sector during the fiscal year 2021/2022 amounted to about 10.7 billion dollars, compared to 4.9 billion dollars in 2020/2021, an increase of 121.1%, according to the data of the central agency for public mobilization and statistics issued on June 9, 2023.

The data showed the growth in tourism revenues in light of the obstacles and crises that the sector has been exposed to in recent years due to the corona pandemic and the Russian and Ukrainian crisis, where tourism revenues reached 4.4 billion dollars in 2016/2017 with an increase of 16.2%, 9.8 billion dollars in 2017/2018 with an increase of 123.9%, 12.6 billion dollars in 2018/2019 with an increase of 28.2%, and 9.9 billion dollars in 2019/2020 with a decrease of 21.6%, and 4.9 billion dollars in 2020/2021 with a decrease of 50.7%, and 10.7 billion dollars during 2021/2022 with an increase of 121.1%, as mentioned earlier.

Figure No. (1) shows the volume of tourism sector revenues between 2016 and 2022

The World Bank expects that tourism revenues in Egypt in the next five years will reach: • $14.2 billion in 2023-2024. • $18.9 billion in 2024-2025 • $22.8 billion in 2025-2026 • $26.5 billion in 2026-2027 • $28.8 billion in 2027-2028

Third: Plans to promote the tourism sector in Egypt

The national strategy to support tourism in Egypt aims to achieve rapid growth in this industry, ranging from 25% to 30% annually through optimal utilization of the country’s tourism, natural, human and archaeological resources, ensuring their sustainability, and providing distinguished and advanced infrastructure and services to increase the competitiveness of Egypt.

The national strategy to support tourism in Egypt aims to achieve rapid growth in this industry, ranging from 25% to 30% annually through optimal utilization of the country’s tourism, natural, human and archaeological resources and ensuring their sustainability, and providing a distinguished and developed infrastructure to increase the competitiveness of Egypt.

In light of this, Egypt adopts a set of ambitious plans to advance the tourism sector and maximize its revenues, based on a number of main axes and pillars, the most important of which are: Focus on Marketing and Promotion

The tourism sector plan aims to intensify tourism promotion activities and apply innovative stimulation tools to enhance the product in the face of intense competition from other tourist destinations through a number of important axes such as strengthening the marketing and advertising message abroad and the effective implementation of the international promotion campaign that was contracted with major specialized companies.

Among the most important promotional campaigns are the campaigns “Your vacation is with us” and “The day in Egypt does not end” to promote tourism to Egypt during the summer season 2022, especially in the Arab market and the Gulf region, in addition to stimulating domestic tourism in Egypt.

1-Stimulating tourist investors

State agencies have taken a number of steps to support and stimulate tourism and hotel investments in the country. These steps are as follows:

– The initiative launched by the Central Bank in February of 2017, to finance the renewal operations needed by hotel establishments and fleets of tourist cars, as an amount of 5 billion pounds was allocated for this initiative.

-The central bank returned at the beginning of this year 2020 and launched a new version of this initiative, allocating 50 billion pounds to tourism companies, in order to include the largest possible number of tourism investments inside Egypt.

2-Return to work in the aviation incentive program:

The Egyptian government has sought to benefit from the aviation stimulus program as an effective tool in advancing tourism in Egypt, by encouraging air carriers to direct the largest possible number of their flights to Egyptian tourist destinations, in addition to opening new airlines, such as the Marsa Alam airport, the Netherlands and Ukraine, and another between Georgia to Hurghada.

3-Improving tourist service

The Ministry of Tourism was keen to develop a strategy to qualify and develop the human resource in the tourism sector, in cooperation with the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers, through a training project for various groups working in tourism, such as tour guides, hotel workers and recreational activities, in addition to company representatives and tourist car drivers.

The Egyptian government has also taken several other stimulating and supportive measures for the tourism sector, including:

-Implementing the e-tourist visa system, and automating the purchase of tickets for archaeological sites and museums electronically.

-Establishing a unified database system for workers in the tourism sector, as well as automating the services of the hotel sector.

-The Tourism Promotion Authority signed agreements with many TV stations and markets that deal with Egyptian destinations, to launch advertising campaigns aimed at introducing tourists to Egypt and its various tourist destinations.

Fourth: The tourism sector in the light of international indicators and acclaim

-Egypt advanced 20 places in the safety and security index for expatriates issued by Intentions, which measures personal safety and security as part of the quality of life, as Egypt ranked 42 in 2022, compared to 62 in 2016.

-It ranked 12th globally out of 138 countries in the global Islamic Travel Index 2022. -It ranked first in the Arab region, fourth in Africa, and 27th globally, in the road trip tourism practice index out of 118 countries, noting that the index depends on 3 sub-indicators (attractiveness, logistics, lifestyle).

-Egypt is on the list of international travel and tourism nominations, where: Choosing Egypt is among the best tourist destinations to travel to in the fall of 2022, according to a CNN Travel report.

-“Travel Inside” magazine chose Egypt as the first in the world among the most popular tourist destinations during the current period, outperforming many other tourist destinations such as the Maldives and the Caribbean islands.

– Hurghada ranked second as the best tourist destination in the Middle East for the year 2023, after Dubai, which ranked first, according to Tripadvisor.

– Egypt also won the second place as the best diving destination in the world for the year 2021, according to Dive Magazine.

fifth: proposals to promote growth in the tourism sector in Egypt

In order to develop the performance and drive the growth engine of the tourism sector in Egypt, this paper recommends the need to work on:

-Joint cooperation and integration of all efforts between the ministries and the relevant authorities in the sector, each in its field, to achieve more successes and the best desired results to reach the sector to wider horizons. -Developing stimulating policies for investment, especially hotel investment, tourist transport, the establishment of sports cities and entertainment attractions, increasing the number of hotel rooms … and others.

-Launching tourist economic zones, or free tourist zones, and granting tax and financial privileges and exemptions for specific periods of time, while creating the legislative environment to achieve this in order to increase the attraction of investors towards investment in the tourism sector , by offering units of a tourist nature consistent with international standards on local and international electronic platforms, resulting in an increase in tourist units and hotel rooms.

-Training and qualification of workers in the tourism sector on how to deal with different cultures of tourists and providing them with communication, teamwork and leadership skills.

– The need to launch a unified Egyptian platform for tourism promotion that facilitates booking, flight and visa procedures, as well as hotel reservations.

– Activating the role of tourism media to spread cultural awareness among citizens of the importance of tourism, as well as working to improve the image of tourism among foreigners.

النشرة البريدية

إشترك في قائمتنا البريدية للحصول على التحديثات الجديدة, messages and facts: reading of president's visit to beheira, repercussions of sudan war on egyptian economy, related articles, president of “draya” forum: implementing 6 social packages in less than two years, “afrocentric” movement and future scenarios on egypt’s african identity, the palestinian issue between land and demography, the egyptian economy in light of international and regional changes: scenarios and solutions.

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Inbound Tourism March 2024

• Background Notes

Over 521,800 foreign visitors departed Ireland in March 2024

Periodicity.

Annual/Monthly.

Inbound travel patterns of foreign residents visiting Ireland, which involve overnight stays and same-day trips, and associated variables.

All foreign resident visitors departing Ireland on overseas air and sea routes. Foreign resident visitors who depart Ireland via Northern Ireland are not covered. Foreign resident cruise excursionists who visit Ireland are also not covered.

The purpose of the Inbound Tourism statistical series is to measure the travel patterns (trips, nights, purpose of trip, type of accommodation, expenditure, etc.) of foreign resident visitors to Ireland.  The series is one of several Central Statistics Office (CSO) tourism series conducted to comply with the requirements of Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 concerning the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism for data to the end of 2011 and Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC in respect of data from the beginning of 2012.

Data Collection

Information is collected via the Passenger Survey , an ongoing survey of departing passengers at Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, and at Dublin Port, Europort Rosslare and Ringaskiddy Port.

Why departing passengers (as opposed to arriving passengers). There are three reasons for this:

• EU Regulation on tourism statistics specifies that it is the date of departure, rather than the date of arrival, that determines the reference month for tourism flows. Surveying departing passengers aligns with this concept.
• The full details of a trip are not always known the moment a visitor first arrives in a country. This is particularly the case in relation to expenditure, where the visitor will not usually know exactly how much he/she will spend on their trip. Surveying departing passengers only, when the full trip details are known, avoids this ambiguity.
• From an operational perspective, it is easier to survey departing passengers (whilst waiting at an airport departure gate or waiting to board a vessel) than arriving passengers (who often depart directly the airport or port facilities).

The Passenger Survey is conducted by CSO enumerators and consists of enumerator-led interviews of a sample of departing passengers. The data is captured by the enumerators using of an electronic questionnaire hosted on tablets and mobile devices. The questionnaire captures information on the flight or sailing of the departing passenger, their residency, reason for travel, their length of stay in the country, the accommodation types they used and various expenditure information such as their fare cost, accommodation cost and day-to-day expenditure.

The Passenger Survey was first trialled in Dublin Airport in 2019 then, following a hiatus due to COVID-19, was fully implemented in Dublin Airport in 2022, before being rolled out to the other airports and seaports in early 2023.

Sample Design

The Passenger Survey employs a hybrid sample design. At Dublin Airport, where the main enumeration effort is made, a two-stage cluster sample approach is used. A sample of departing flights (clusters) is randomly selected. Then the enumerators interview a systematic sample of passengers preparing to board those flights. At Cork, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, where flight departures are less frequent, a different approach is used. Enumerators are allocated rotating shifts that represent the full range of flight activity. The enumerators then attempt to interview a sample of passengers on all flights departing in their shifts. At the seaports, where sailings are even less frequent, a different approach again is taken. A systematic sample of departing sailings is selected and the enumerators then attempt to interview as many passengers as possible preparing to board these vessels. The overall sample size of the  Passenger Survey  in March 2024 was 14,703 passengers.

Series Volatility

Due to difficulties scaling up the enumerator field-force, the Passenger Survey has not yet fully reached its target size (at least 15,000 passenger interviews per month). This has implications for some of the series estimates, particularly the country of residence breakdowns, which often entail estimating relatively small proportions of the travelling population (see Table 2). Consequently, there is a significant imprecision in these estimates and this manifests as volatility in the month-on-month reporting of some of the less frequent residence categories. Instead of limiting this information the CSO has decided to publish the relatively extensive residency breakdown in the expectation that the sample size issue will be short-lived. In the interim, the user of these statistics should be mindful of the imprecision inherent in these estimates, particularly in May and June 2023 when the sample size was just 8,009 and 7,669 passengers respectively.

Definitions

Means the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal purpose, other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.

Usual Environment

The usual environment of an individual is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines.  Places that are frequently visited are part of a person’s  usual environment  even though they may be located at a considerable distance (or in another country) from the place of residence. For the purposes of this release, trips taken on a weekly or more frequent basis are considered to be within a respondent’s usual environment and are thus excluded from estimates for tourism trips.  The one exception being that of holiday homes which although may be frequently visited, are considered outside the  usual environment  according to the UNWTO 2008 International Recommendations on Tourism Statistics (IRTS).

Inbound Tourism

Inbound tourism is defined as the activities of foreign residents travelling to and staying in places within the Republic of Ireland and outside their usual environment. It is important to note that trips by Northern Ireland residents to the Republic, whilst technically classed as inbound tourism, are excluded from these series for practical reasons. Northern Ireland residents who depart the Republic via an airport or seaport in the Republic, are assumed to the same day visitors simply transiting through. 

A Visitor is defined as 'any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited'. 

Same Day Visitor

A same day visitor is a visitor who spends no more than one day in the country visited. They do not stay overnight.

Overnight Visitor

An overnight visitor is a visitor who stays at least one night in the country visited.

A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. A trip may be made up of visits to different places. Only trips by foreign residents to Ireland are included in the Inbound Tourism series.

Reported are foreign resident overnight and same-day trips that ended in the reference month. Note that the overnight foreign resident visitors may have arrived in Ireland prior to the reference month (e.g. if a visitor arrived in Ireland in May 2023 and departed in June 2023, this would be classed as a June 2023 trip).

Included are all trips for personal or professional purposes (e.g. holidays, visiting friends or relatives, business or professional trips, sporting or religious events, medical visits, shopping trips). Excluded are all trips that are part of normal work routines, such as trips by aircrew, sea crew and commercial vehicle drivers. 

Country of Residence

Country of Residence is defined as the country in which the person has resided during the greater part of the 12 months prior to being interviewed.

Departing Passenger Categories

All passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes are divided into one of five categories;

• Outbound Irish; these are Irish residents heading abroad for tourism or other purposes. Irish residents (which may include foreign nationals) are those who have lived in Ireland for at least the last 12 months.
• Same Day Visitor: Northern Ireland; these are residents of Northern Ireland departing the Island of Ireland through an airport or sea port in the Republic of Ireland. It is assumed that these residents of Northern Ireland are merely transiting through the Republic to avail of the various additional overseas travel routes on offer. Therefore, these passengers are categorised as same day visitors.
• Same Day Visitor: Transfer; these are foreign residents who travel to an Irish airport solely for the purpose of catching a connecting flight to a foreign destination. They are usually in the country for just an hour or so and are therefore considered same day visitors. Transfer passengers are not the same as transit passengers, who remain onboard their aircraft before it flies on to a further destination. Transit passengers are outside the scope of this Inbound Tourism.
• Same Day Visitor: Other; these are foreign resident departing passengers, other than Northern Irish residents or transfer passengers, who depart an Irish airport or seaport on the same day they arrived. Examples include business travellers flying in and out on the same day for a business meeting or travellers flying in and out for a family funeral.
• Overnight Foreign Resident Visitors; these are departing foreign resident visitors to Ireland whose trip has comprised at least one overnight stay in the country.

Nights refer to the number of nights stayed in the country by the foreign resident visitors. By definition, same day visitors spend no nights in the country. It is important to note that the number of nights reported in a particular reference month refer to the cumulative trip nights spent in the country by the visitor departing that reference month. They are not apportioned out over individual months. Thus a visitor who arrives in Ireland on 24 May and departs on 8 June will be classed as having spent 14 nights in the country as he departs in June (even though 7 of those nights were actually spent in May). Seasonal factors (e.g. foreign students departing the country at the end of term) may inflate the number of nights reported in specific months (e.g. December).

Main Reason for Travel

The main reason for travel is the primary purpose for which the visitor came to Ireland. A visitor may have multiple reasons for visiting Ireland, but only the main reason is reported.

Main Accommodation Type

Main accommodation type is the type of accommodation the visitors used more than any other type. Very often, visitors will stay in only one accommodation type and this is their main accommodation type by default. If visitors stay in more than one accommodation type, the type they spent the most nights in is designated their main accommodation type.

Expenditure

Expenditure covers all routine expenditure relating directly to a trip. Expenditure is divided into four categories:

• Fares; the cost of air and ferry tickets to travel to and from Ireland.
• Prepayments; purchases of services in Ireland (e.g. car hire, tour bookings, concert tickets, etc, but excluding accommodation) undertaken in advance of the trip and relating directly to the trip.
• Accommodation; the cost of hotels, guesthouses, rented holiday homes etc, during the trip.
• Day-to-day expenditure; These are all other routine costs incurred during the trip. These include the cost of eating out, the purchase of gifts and routine consumables, tour and equipment costs (where not prepaid in advance of the trip) and other incidental expenses.

All expenditure relates to individual expenditure. Where visitors travel as a group and can only provide the cost of the group fare, group accommodation, etc. these group costs are divided by the number of persons in the travelling party to estimate the individual costs. The expenditure covers both payments made by the travelling party and all expenses paid for or reimbursed by others (e.g. an employer).

Fares only cover the cost of travelling directly to and from Ireland. Where a visitor purchases a ticket covering multiple destinations only the cost of the direct route to Ireland is nominally included (e.g. if a US visitor flies from John F Kennedy Airport to Heathrow Airport and from there to Dublin Airport, only the Heathrow-Dublin element of the fare is included). In these cases the visitor is assigned the median fare of those who only travel the direct route. For those who travel to Ireland by ferry, their accompanying vehicle (if any) is included in the cost of the fare.

Package fares are assumed to cover the cost of both fares and accommodation. Visitors who package fares are assigned a median fare based on their travel route and the remainder of their package costs are assumed to be their accommodation costs.

Prepayments only cover the purchases of services in Ireland. The purchase of travel-related services in other countries (e.g. airport parking at their point of embarkation to Ireland) are excluded.

Accommodation costs cover all direct costs associated with booking a room, bed or space in the accommodation premises. The purchase of additional services from the accommodation provider (e.g. an evening meal or on-site parking) are classed as day-to-day expenditures (or prepayments, when booked in advance). Note that nights spent with friends or relatives or in the visitors own properties are assumed to be unpaid accommodation.

Excluded from trip costs are any expenditure on housing, land, real estate, goods for resale, donations to charities/institutions or cash presents/payments to relatives and friends who are not part of the travel party.

Individual figures have been rounded independently and the sum of the component items therefore may not necessarily add to the totals shown.

List of Countries - Inbound Tourism 

Relationships to other cso tourism series.

The Inbound Tourism series complements the Household Travel Survey series in that whilst the former reports statistics on Inbound Tourism, the latter reports statistics on Domestic Tourism (Irish residents travelling within Ireland) and Outbound Tourism (Irish residents travelling abroad). Definitions and classifications between the two sets of series are harmonised as closely as possible and statistics on Outbound Tourism are calibrated to departing Irish resident passenger numbers compiled from the Passenger Survey . Taken together, the Inbound Tourism series and the Household Travel Survey series provide a very comprehensive overview of all tourism activities impacting the state.

The Inbound Tourism series also complements the Air and Sea Travel Statistics compiled and published during the COVID-19 era (and updated and maintained on a monthly basis in the CSO Database system:

Air and Sea Travel Statistics, ASM01, ASM02, ASM03

Whilst the Air and Sea Travel Statistics reports the overall number of passengers arriving and departing on overseas routes, the Inbound Tourism series provides the detailed characteristics of the departing passengers. The Inbound Tourism series is weighted to the number of departing passengers reported in the Air and Sea Travel Statistics .

The Inbound Tourism series is also related to the former Overseas Travel series (published monthly up to February 2020) and the former Tourism and Travel series (published quarterly to the fourth quarter of 2019), in that all three sets of series report on the characteristics of foreign resident visitors who travel on overseas routes to Ireland. However, care must be taken comparing the Inbound Tourism series to both the Overseas Travel series and Tourism and Travel series. The Inbound Tourism series is compiled using a very different sampling methodology and a very different mode of data collection. Therefore, the results of the respective series are not directly comparable. The Inbound Tourism series should be seen as a completely new and different statistical series rather than a continuation or update of the Overseas Travel and Tourism and Travel series.

Methodological Review

The Inbound Tourism series is a new statistical series based on an updated sampling methodology and data collection process. This new methodology represents a significant improvement on the previous methodology, particularly in terms of the sampling and a move to a fully digitised process, and this produces an enhanced measurement of inbound tourism in Ireland. In line with best practice, the CSO monitors the quality of its methodological processes and outputs of its statistical work.   As part of the review process for this series, a range of validation exercises have been conducted including a review of the raw passenger data by destination and the change to surveying departing passengers only (versus the previously applied process of surveying arriving and departing passengers).  The CSO will continue to review its application and outcomes over the coming months.

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