Vol. 448 No. 4
75 Mr. Andrews asked the Taoiseach the way in which numbers of tourists visiting Ireland are calculated; if he has satisfied himself that this is the best means of calculating the numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2303/95]
The overseas tourism and travel statistics published by the Central Statistics Office are based primarily on two very large sample surveys of passengers carried out at major air and sea ports. The surveys cover about 257,000 inward and 315,000 outward passengers on an annual basis and are used in conjunction with total passenger movement figures supplied by the transport companies to provide estimates of all visits and related expenditure by non-residents to Ireland.
Overseas visitors to Ireland are classified by route of travel, area of residence, length of stay and reason for journey. The details are published quarterly and annually and give separate estimated for four categories of reason for journey—Tourist; Business; Visit to Relatives; and Others.
I am satisfied that the procedures utilised by the CSO represent a cost effective use of resources for the estimation of tourism and travel flows.
