BRITAIN proved to be the most popular holiday destination for Irish people in 2014 – with travelling on the up from Ireland.
Over 1.4 million trips were made to Britain from Ireland in the first nine months of last year.
Despite these impressive numbers, figures were down on visits to the top destinations for Irish tourists.
Visits to both Britain and Spain fell from the same period in 2013.
According to new data released by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, trips to Britain were down 2.5 per cent on the year leading up to September 2014.
Coming in behind Britain as the favourite destination for the Irish was Spain, which was the only other destination to surpass the one million visits mark.
Spain saw a drop of four per cent on the previous year’s visitors.
France, Portugal and North America all saw boosts to their numbers, with North America seeing a massive 14 per cent increase in Irish tourists, with 281,000 heading to the US or Canada.
Britain retained its top spot despite falling numbers – though the festive period brought in a fresh wave of tourism from Ireland, with London proving the most popular overseas destination for New Year’s revellers.
