Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the performance of the domestic market for tourism in 2007; the regional breakdown of visitors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31453/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I am very pleased that domestic tourism continues to grow as is evidenced by the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office. These figures, which are available on the CSO website (www.cso.ie), show that in the first six months of this year the number of domestic holiday trips was up by more than 22% on the corresponding period of 2006, while expenditure on domestic holidays grew by over 37% in the same period.

I am particularly pleased to note that the figures show a good performance by all regions outside of Dublin, with most recording strong increases in both number of bed-nights and expenditure, compared to the corresponding period last year. The fact that Ireland continues to be one of the favourite holiday destinations of the Irish is very encouraging.