Home for Christmas: December 2025 was the top month for visits to family

Charts from CSO figures show who flies and sails in and out of Ireland at Christmas, how the five main airports compare, and how 2026 is going so far.

In 2025, more people came to see family in December than in August

In December 2025, about 247,100 overseas visitors said the main reason for their trip was to visit friends or relatives. That was more than in any other month of 2025, including August, the peak of the summer. It was 47.1% of all overnight visitors that month, according to the CSO Inbound Tourism release for December 2025.

The CSO counts anyone who lives abroad as a foreign visitor, even if they grew up here. In 2025, most months had fewer than 200,000 visitors coming to see friends or relatives, but December had almost a quarter of a million. Holidays were the next most common reason in December 2025, at 30.1% of visitors.

Most December visitors live close by. Of the 524,100 overnight visitors in December 2025, 208,300 lived in Great Britain, or about four in ten. The next largest group came from the USA, with 74,300 visitors.

Irish residents travel too, but less than in summer

Traffic goes both ways at Christmas. In December 2025, about 993,800 Irish residents left Ireland on overseas air and sea routes. That was a little more than in November, but well below the summer months.

The CSO calls an "Irish resident" anyone who has lived here for at least the last 12 months, whatever their nationality. In 2025, 14.2 million departures were by Irish residents. That was about 63% of the 22.7 million people leaving on overseas routes.

December is far from the busiest month for departures. It accounted for 7.4% of the 22.7 million departures on overseas routes in 2025, against 10.6% for August. But December 2025 was 14.2% busier than December 2024, the biggest rise of any month that year.

Irish residents took 3.4 million trips abroad in the last quarter of 2025

The CSO Household Travel Survey asks Irish households about their overnight trips. Between October and December 2025, Irish residents took 3,373,000 overnight trips abroad, up 6% on the same months of 2024. They spent €2,747.6 million on those trips.

• Holidays: 1,812,000 trips, up from 1,578,000 in late 2024.
• Visiting friends or relatives: 883,000 trips, down from 1,062,000.
• Business: 435,000 trips, up from 316,000.
• EU countries: 1,707,000 trips. Other Europe: 1,243,000.
• USA and Canada: 171,000 trips, up from 120,000.

So more Irish residents went abroad for a holiday in late 2025, and fewer went to see family. Spending on trips to visit friends or relatives fell from €593.5 million to €544.8 million.

Christmas travel also happens at home. Irish residents took 3.5 million overnight trips within Ireland between October and December 2025. About 1,340,000 of them, or 38%, were to visit friends or relatives.

Dublin handles more than eight in ten airport passengers

The CSO publishes passenger numbers for the five main airports by quarter. Between October and December 2025, they handled 10,137,087 passengers, 10% more than a year earlier. Dublin alone had 8.57 million, or 84.6% of the total.

Every airport is busier in summer than at Christmas. At Dublin, the last three months of 2025 had 79% as many passengers as July to September. At Cork, Shannon and Kerry the figure was around 70%.

The smaller airports have grown fastest since 2019

At Christmas 2019, before Covid-19, the five airports handled 8.54 million passengers in the last quarter of the year. By 2025, that had risen to 10.14 million, up 18.7%. Shannon went from 341,416 to 504,372 passengers.

2026 so far: more passengers, but slower growth

The five airports had 9.07 million passengers from January to March 2026, up 11% on a year earlier. Growth slowed to 2% from April to June 2026, when they handled 12.33 million. Cork was 3% lower in that quarter, while Shannon was up 15%.

Departures on overseas routes in August 2026 reached 2,432,100, up 1% on August 2025. Figures for October to December 2026 will show whether Christmas 2026 beats the 2025 level.