Key Figures
1. Main Points
Overnight Trips, Nights and Spend
In 2025, there were an estimated 5.1 million overnight trips in Northern Ireland, with associated expenditure of £1.2 billion. Visitors stayed 15.0 million nights in NI in 2025.
Compared with the previous year, the 2025 annual tourism figures indicate a statistically significant change in the overall number of overnight trips to Northern Ireland. Overnight trips increased by 9% compared with 2024, with a corresponding change observed in visitor spending (9% increase relative to 2024).
The number of nights stayed in Northern Ireland was broadly unchanged from 2024, recorded at 15 million in 2025 (an increase of 1%). Alongside growth in overnight trips and spend, this pattern suggests a shift toward more frequent, shorter‑duration stays with higher spend per night.
Visitor Profile
External visitors accounted for 66% of the total number of overnight trips with 34% of overnight trips taken by NI local residents (the domestic tourism market). This is the same proportion as reported in 2024.
Within the external tourism market, all areas showed growth from 2024, with the exception of those travelling from outside UK and ROI. ROI market (+15%), Great Britain market (+4%), NI market (+12%); outside UK and ROI (-3%).
Holiday remains the primary reason for visiting Northern Ireland accounting for 53% of all overnight stays.
2. Overnight Trips
In 2025, there were an estimated 5.1 million overnight
trips in Northern Ireland, which equates to 15.0
million nights with an associated expenditure of £1.2
billion.
This includes both overnight trips by external visitors (3.3 million) to Northern Ireland and domestic overnight trips (1.8 million) taken by NI residents.
The number of overnight trips taken in Northern Ireland in 2025 increased by 9% (404,000) from the previous year. This was a statistically significant change from 2024.
Figure 1: Estimated Overnight Trips by grouped place of origin (Non NI resident and NI resident)
3. Trip Purpose
Over half of trips (53%) were made for Holiday purposes. Over one third (34%) reported visiting friends and relatives, while the remaining 12% travelled for ‘Business or Other’ purposes.
Figure 2: Estimated Overnight Trips by Reason for Trip 2025
[1] Please note figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
Trip Purpose - Annual Change
Those reporting a visit to NI for a ‘holiday’ increased by 13% from 2024 (from 2.4 million to 2.7 million in 2025.)
This increase was reported across all markets with the exception of those travelling from ‘Outside the UK or RoI’. (ROI market +39%; NI +15%; GB +7%; Outside UK and RoI -13%).
4. Origin of Visitors
The 5.1 million overnight trips in 2025 were made by:
- 1.8 million NI local residents (34%),
- 1.5 million visits from Great Britain (29%),
- 1.3 million from Republic of Ireland (26%) and
- 0.6 million from ‘Outside United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (ROI)’ (11%).
Origin Of Visitors - Annual Change
The previous 12 months have shown growth on visits from the Great Britain market (+4%), the ROI market (+15%) and the NI market (+12%).
The Great Britain and Republic of Ireland markets growth brings the figures back in line to those reported in 2023.
The NI domestic tourism market also has shown promising growth in 2025 after a sharp decline in 2024. However, despite an encouraging recovery in 2025 (12% increase in trips to 1.8 million from 2024), NI overnight trips has not yet returned to the 2.1 million NI resident overnight trips recorded in 2023.
External visits to NI from outside of the UK or ROI showed a 3% decrease in 2025 from the previous year (568,000 external visitors in 2024 to 553,000 in 2025).
Figure 3: Estimated overnight trips by place of origin, 2025
[1] Please note figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
Figure 4: Estimated Overnight Trips by place of origin 2023-2025.
Figure 5: Estimated Overnight Spend in £millions by place of origin, 2025.
The total overnight spend in 2025 was £1.2 billion. This was a statistically significant increase from 2024.
The spend per market area for 2025 is detailed in Figure 5 below.
5. Day Trips
In 2025, the number of same-day trips taken in Northern Ireland was estimated to be 17.9 million with an associated spend of £1.2 billion. The number of same-day trips increased across all market areas, most notably in the NI domestic market, which, as the dominant driver of activity, accounted for around 88% of total day trips. NI domestic same-day trips has shown steady quarter-on-quarter growth throughout 2025.
Republic of Ireland (ROI) remains the second largest contributor to same-day trips accounting for 10% of the total with an overall increase in day trips by ROI residents of 7% from 2024. While both Great Britain and external visitors from outside UK and ROI have seen increases in volume from 2024, (+5% and +20% respectively), their overall share of the total remains low, at 1%.
The average spend per same-day trip has decreased slightly from £70.50 per day trip in 2024 to £67.80 in 2025. The overall increase in total spend to £1.2bn is therefore volume-driven, largely reflecting the growth in day trips, (particularly by NI residents), rather than an increase in spend per individual same-day trip.
Figure 6: Same-day Visits to Northern Ireland, 2025
6. Occupancy
In 2025, the hotel room occupancy in Northern Ireland was 65% - down from 68% in 2024.
The estimated room occupancy for guest houses, bed & breakfasts and guest accommodation for 2025 was 41% - broadly equivalent to the rate in 2024 (40%) in 2024.
Figure 7: Estimated Occupancy Rates of Hotel rooms, Small Service accommodation rooms and Self Catering establishments, 2015-2025
7. Local Government District Tourism
Whilst tourism statistics systems are designed to collect
information for Northern Ireland as a whole, the number of overnight
trips, nights and expenditure are provided by location and this
information has been used to disaggregate estimates by Local Government
District.
The estimates show that Belfast LGD had the highest number of overnight trips of any Local Government District during 2025 (1.5 million or 30% of all NI overnight trips)
Figure 7: Estimated overnight trips, nights and spend by Reason for Visit and LGD
Overnight Trips 2025
Click on an LGD area within the map to see ‘Reason for Visit’ information.
Nights 2025
Click on an LGD area within the map to see ‘Reason for Visit’ information.
Spend 2025
Click on an LGD area within the map to see ‘Reason for Visit’ information.
8. Electronic Travel Authorisation
Since April 2025 (with full enforcement since February 2026), the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a mandatory digital permission for all non visa national visitors travelling to the United Kingdom. This requirement applies to all entry points, including the land border between the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI). British and Irish citizens, along with eligible residents of the Republic of Ireland who can provide proof of residency, are exempt from the scheme. The current fee for an ETA is £20 per applicant.
International visitor departures - Annual Change
Tourism statistics produced by NISRA record international visitors travelling from outside the UK and ROI, alongside their port of departure. These data provide a proxy measure of visitors likely to have crossed the land border into Northern Ireland and are therefore subject to ETA requirements under current regulations.
In 2025, international overnight visits from outside the UK and ROI decreased by 3% to 553,000 visitors. The proportion of these visitors exiting via ROI ports rose from 59% in 2024 to 61%, indicating that approximately 338,000 travelers crossed the land border into Northern Ireland for an overnight visit.
There were 253,000 International same-day visits from travellers from outside the UK and ROI in 2025. With 97% of this market (approximately 244,000 visitors) departing through ROI ports, the data suggests this sector is almost entirely reliant on cross-border transit to NI.
Figure 8: International visitor departures - Annual Change
9. Tourism Economic Statistics
Defining the Tourism-Related Industry
The “tourism-related industry” encompasses a broad range of sectors where a significant portion of activity is driven by tourism—such as accommodation, food service, and passenger transport. Tourism-related industries, as defined by the UNWTO, are used to produce economic statistics on tourism industries in Northern Ireland. However, these businesses and tourism activities are also utilised extensively by local residents. Therefore, the data reflects the entire workforce within these sectors rather than only specific visitor-related transactions. While this report focuses on the broader tourism-related industry which supports 70,383 jobs throughout Northern Ireland, direct economic contribution (Tourism Direct Gross Value Added, TDGVA) can be measured through the NI Tourism Satellite Account (TSA).
Scale and Regionality
The Inter Departmental Business Register recorded 5,960 VAT and/or PAYE registered tourism businesses operating in NI.
NI Tourism is a decentralised industry, providing essential economic activity and employment well beyond major urban hubs like Belfast with over three-quarters (77%) of these businesses located outside of the Belfast City Council area.
In the most recent data published (2023), the Business Register and Employment Survey showed that there were 70,383 tourism jobs throughout NI. Of these, 70% were outside of Belfast City Council.
The gross weekly median pay for all jobs in NI in 2025 was £592, however for tourism related industries, this was £315.
Table 1: Tourism Economic Statistics
| Economic indicators | Value |
|---|---|
| Tourism businesses | 5,960 |
| Businesses outside Belfast City Council | 77% |
| Tourism jobs (2023) | 70,383 |
| Jobs outside Belfast City Council | 70% |
The Good Jobs Rate and Work Quality
A “Good Job” is a composite measure defined by the Department for the Economy (DfE) and NISRA. According to official methodology, a role must meet three criteria simultaneously: it must be a permanent contract, it must not be a zero-hours contract, and it must pay at or above the Real Living Wage.
The Tourism Industries Good Jobs rate for 2025 was 38%, compared to the NI average of 69%. This gap was driven by higher than average zero hours contracts in the tourism industries compared to NI average and a lower real time living wage than the average.
Work Quality Indicators
Figure 9: Work Quality Indicators Tourism Industries compared with NI average 2025
Section 75 Demographic Breakdown of Tourism Industries v NI (2024)
Analysis of Section 75 statistics from the Labour Force Survey (2024) shows that the tourism workforce is younger, more likely to live in deprived areas, and more likely to be single than the Northern Ireland average, while gender and disability composition remains broadly similar.
Figure 10: Section 75 breakdown for Tourism Industries compared with NI average, 2024
10. Official Statistics
Accredited Official Statistics are official
statistics that have been independently reviewed by the Office
for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and confirmed to comply with the
standards of trustworthiness, quality and value set out in the Code of Practice for
Statistics.
Producers of accredited official statistics are legally required to ensure that they maintain compliance with the Code. Accredited official statistics are referred to as National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by OSR in 2016 and awarded National Statistics designation. Following suspension due to the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic, OSR undertook a compliance review of Northern Ireland Tourism Statistics in June 2025, with accreditation confirmed in October 2025.
The statistics comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should therefore be labelled accredited official statistics.
Our statistical practice is regulated by OSR, which sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics are expected to uphold.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
11. Contact Details
Published by: Tourism Statistics, NISRA
Lead Statistician: Sinead Toner
Telephone: 028 90 255664
Accessibility contact
Please contact Dissemination Branch for assistance with accessibility requirements or alternative formats. Contact details are:
Email: info@nisra.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)300 200 7836
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