There was strong growth in foreign visits, up 10.3% year to year to 2.4m in the three months to May according to the latest figures from the CSO.
The figures show that visitor growth from the higher spending North American market was up over 19.3% year to year to 414,200 compared to +24.5% in the first quarter.
Trips from Europe were up 9.2% year on year to 861,600 compared to a 14% gain in the first quarter.
Nonetheless, visitor numbers from Great Britain were up 9.3% year on year to 990,400, slowing significantly from the +17.2% gain in the first quarter.
Visits from other regions, largely Asia, fell 0.3% year on year to 116,600.
According to Davy Stockbrokers, "Looking ahead, tourism is one of the sectors exposed to a sharp slowdown in UK growth – 41% of foreign trips were from the UK last year, accounting for 30% of holiday trips, 48% of business trips, 25% of hotel nights and €1bn in spending."
They added, "In the near term, weaker sterling will make foreign trips to Ireland more expensive for UK travellers, while any disruption to trade agreements and the-visa free Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK could negatively impact the tourism sector in the longer term."
Source: www.businessworld.ie