Kerry, Cork and Galway rise to the top of the list for Irish family “staycations”.Getty Images/iStockphoto
MyHome.ie asked the question of 2,000 Irish people and Kerry came out miles ahead with 24% choosing it as their top vacation spot. Galway came in next with 17%, while Cork came in third with 15%. Wexford and Donegal came in joint fifth with 8%.
When asked ‘what is the least appealing county for a holiday,’ Dublin received the most votes, 10%, followed by Limerick and Longford on 7%.
Here’s a breakdown of the top spots:
A rainbow over a lake of Killarney
St Patrick's Bridge, Cork City
A boat in Galway Bay
Main Street, Wexford town
Bundoran Beach
Coast of Achill Island
Cliffs of Fanore
O'Connell Bridge, Dublin City
Rosenallis, 1700s Quaker graveyard
Drogheda, County Louth
River Camcor, Birr, County Offaly
Lough Rynn, County Leitrim
According to the survey few people are planning trips to counties like Laois, Offaly, Monaghan and Roscommon while the numbers planning trips to Northern Ireland are also very low.
Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said she was surprised that more people were not heading north.
“While some people may head north for shopping our survey shows the same numbers clearly do not intend going there for a holiday. The North just doesn’t seem to feature in people’s holiday plans. In fact if you combine all the figures for those heading north for a break you come up with 4.5%. To put it in context that’s similar to the number of people from the Republic planning a trip to Waterford alone this year” Keegan said.
Not surprisingly the main motivation for holidays is rest and recreation (58%) but other factors include activities (12%), visiting family/friends (11%), city trips (8%), cultural/religious (7%) and spas/health reasons (3%).
While 11% indicated they preferred to holiday in Ireland and 41% said their preference was for a holiday abroad, a clear majority, 48%, opted for both.