GOING ANYWHERE NICE on your holidays?

If this year is anything like last year, it looks like we’ll be fleeing the country in droves.

Trips to sunny destinations like Italy and Spain rose sharply last year according to the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC).

Not surprising when you remember last summer.

Shutterstock / Kirill Smirnov Shutterstock / Kirill Smirnov / Kirill Smirnov

Overall, Irish residents made just over 7 million outbound trips, spending €6 billion on 53.5 million nights out of the country.

Travel to Spain – Ireland’s second most popular foreign destination after the UK – increased by 25% as people sought some sun.

Meanwhile, Italy had the highest rise in popularity, with a 42% increase in people looking for a slice of La Bella Vita.

Like her:

Shutterstock / Hrecheniuk Oleksii Shutterstock / Hrecheniuk Oleksii / Hrecheniuk Oleksii

Foreign trips increased by 6% between 2014 and 2015, ITIC said, citing CSO figures.

Recovery from the nadir year of 2011 has been slow and is still a long way short of the peak years of 2007 but expenditure and volume of outbound trips has increased year on year.

CSO CSO

Travel to the UK was down 3% last year, with about 1.9 million Irish people travelling there last year.

France was the third most popular destination after the UK and Spain while trips to North America were down 6%.

Although travel to Italy accounted for the highest increase, it was the sixth most popular destination, with 410,000 Irish people visiting in 2015.

CSO CSO

The increase in trips to Italy and Spain “appear to be high based on the capacity increase on air services between the two countries and the estimates of growth in inbound visitors”, ITIC said.

If those promised high temperatures don’t materialise this weekend, it might be time to get booking.

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