Trips abroad by Irish residents fell by 12 per cent between July and September compared to the same period last year. It is the first time in 18 years that overseas travel has dropped year-on-year in the third quarter.

Tourism and travel statistics published by the Central Statistics Office reveal that trips for holiday and leisure showed the greatest decline, at 279,000 or 17 per cent. Visits to friends and relatives increased by 3 per cent, however.

In total, there were 2,137,000 visits abroad by Irish residents in the quarter.

The CSO figures also show a 12 per cent decrease in the number of trips made to Ireland during the same three-month period.

There were 2,177,000 visits to Ireland from overseas between July and September compared with 2,472,000 in the same period of 2008. Trips for business purposes decreased by 24 per cent while trips visiting friends/relatives increased by 7 per cent.

The largest decrease in the number of overseas visits to Ireland was by British residents, with the numbers down by 17 per cent.

The number of visits by residents of other European countries decreased by 10 per cent while visits by residents of US and Canada remained “virtually unchanged” from the same period last year, the CSO said.

In terms of spending, there was a net outflow of €691 million for the quarter.

Earnings from visitors to Ireland accounted for €1.321 billion while expenditure by Irish visitors abroad amounted to €2.012 billion.

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1. Annual retail sales fall 10%

Annual retail sales continued to fall in September, slipping 10 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, but rose 2.1 per cent month-on-month.

The latest data from the Central Statistics Office showed that both value and volume of sales during the month slipped.

Excluding the motor trade, sales volume fell 6.0 per cent compared to September 2008 and grew by 1.5 per cent on a monthly basis.

The most significant declines were seen in the motor trade, which fell 29.3 per cent, and household equipment, which recorded a decline of 13.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2008.

Sales at bars were down 10 per cent for the year, while clothing and footwear declined 5.9 per cent.

On a value basis, retail sales showed a fall of 14.8 per cent year on year. Compared with August, however, sales value rose 1.1 per cent.

The latest fall follows a 9 per cent drop in annual sales in August.

In the third quarter of the year, sales volume fell 11.0 compared with the same three months a year earlier. When the motor trade was taken out of the figures, that decline narrowed to 5.7 per cent. Volume rose 3.4 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2009.

Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said the figures showed new car sales had been particularly hard hit by the downturn.

“The decline in consumer expenditure since the beginning of 2008 has been driven by a combination of a fall in disposable income arising from a drop in employment income, and a rise in incomes taxes and levies. In addition, the erosion of personal wealth due to declining asset prices, together with increased uncertainty as reflected in the indicators of consumer confidence, has prompted an increase in precautionary saving by households. However, consumer confidence hit an 18-month high in October and hopefully this will be reflected in increased personal spending in the coming months,” he wrote in a note.

However, he said the outlook for 2010 would depend on further fiscal corrective measures in December’s Budget, and warned an increase in income tax or Vat would have a negative impact on the prospect for retail spending next year.

The latest review of the retail sector by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI), published last month, indicated that the rate of of decline in retail sales is levelling off. However, it also found that consumers are spending the least amount per transaction in more than two years at an average of €45.64 in the third quarter, down from €66.74 a year earlier.

IrishTimes

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