Northern Ireland Annual Tourism Statistics

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) published the Annual Tourism Statistics for Northern Ireland (NI) for the 2023 reference year (the most recent available data) and Air Passenger Flow Statistics.

Annual Tourism Statistics

The statistics are for the calendar year 2023 and mark the return to regular scheduling of NI Annual tourism statistics since the Covid-19 pandemic. The previous NI Annual Tourism figures were published for the 2019 calendar year in October 2020.

This break in series was due to the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the collection of tourism statistics. During this period, in the absence of regular published data, NISRA produced an ‘Alternative Source’ document containing a wide range of tourism related statistics produced by both NISRA and other sources.

In March 2024, NISRA published the Tourism Satellite Account for 2019 which estimated the economic impact of direct Tourism in NI to be £0.9billion.

This morning’s statistical release provides a variety of measures including estimates on the number of overnight trips in NI, the number of nights these overnight trips equate to and the associated expenditure including staying in local accommodation such as self-catering, hotels and other establishments.

Today's figures estimate that there were 5.4million overnight trips to NI in 2023 with an associated £1.2billion expenditure. It is important to note that this report is a stand-alone publication that establishes a baseline year using a revised methodology. As such, the results are not directly comparable to previous years.

The key points of the release are:

• In 2023, there were an estimated 5.4million overnight trips in Northern Ireland, with associated expenditure of £1.2billion. This includes overnight trips taken by external visitors to NI and domestic trips taken by local residents.
• External visitors were estimated to take 3.3million overnight trips to Northern Ireland in 2023. Expenditure associated with these trips was £0.9billion.
• In 2023, 2.1million overnight trips were made by local residents (domestic trips). Domestic trips made up 40% of overnight trips, highlighting the importance of the domestic tourism market.
• In 2023, the hotel room occupancy in Northern Ireland was 64%.
• The estimated room occupancy for guest houses, bed & breakfasts and guest accommodation for 2023 was 38%.
• In 2023, there were 5,845 tourism businesses operating in Northern Ireland. Over three quarters (77%) of these were outside of Belfast City Council.

Notes to editors: 

1. The statistical report and associated tables are available on the NISRA website at: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/tourism/annual-and-quarterly-tourism-statistics-publications

2. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency wishes to thank the participating households and Ports for their co-operation in agreeing to take part in the surveys and for facilitating the collection of the relevant data. Thanks also to Central Statistics Office Ireland for the supply of CSO data.

3. There were no 2020-2022 NI Annual Tourism publications due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions forcing a halt to tourism activities, impacting on tourism data collection and, (when data collection resumed when restrictions were lifted), the production of statistics due to the resultant small sample sizes achieved.

4. Caution should be taken when interpreting these data. Data are not directly comparable to previous NI Annual Tourism statistics due to methodological changes. This is the case for all data with the exception of Occupancy and Economic Tourism Statistics (i.e. Businesses, Employee Jobs etc.). Additionally, data are not adjusted for inflation.

5. The Annual Tourism Statistics will be of interest to tourism policy makers, public bodies, the tourism business community, economic commentators, academics, and the general public with an interest in Tourism and the local economy.

6. The next scheduled release of the NI Annual Tourism Statistics published on the NISRA website spring 2025.

7. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk

8. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110

9. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:

X / Twitter – @Economy_NI

Facebook – @DeptEconomyNI

Instagram – economy_ni

LinkedIn – Department for the Economy NI 

10. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to:

Responsible statistician:

Joanne Henderson

Economic & Labour Market Statistics (ELMS),

Joanne.henderson@nisra.gov.uk or Tel: 028 90255163.

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