Mr. Aidan Pender:

I will first respond to some of the general points made, which will allow me to provide some context on our thinking process. If members wish to come in again later and to contribute to or influence that thinking process, we would welcome their thoughts.

A number of specific points and questions have been made. My colleagues may be better positioned to respond to some of the specific questions. I will respond first to the general issues of principle and will then invite my colleagues to respond to the questions relevant to them. If we have overlooked any point made, the Chairman can let us know and we will come back to it.

In terms of local communities, including coastal communities, one of the things we have been particularly concerned to do in the past number of years is give consideration to who captures the economic gains of tourism. Our tourism industry currently generates approximately €5.6 billion. Concern is often expressed about tourism being more concentrated in one place than another. The spatial distribution issue in terms of how the economic gains of the tourism industry are spatially distributed is also often raised. Tourism is an industry of every parish. It is unique in that it is not like a financial services centre which exists in only one place.

It is distributed around the country and, therefore, the potential for capturing gains rests in those parishes and, most particularly, in the high density tourism destinations and areas to which members referred. We want to find a counterpart to the fast food movement, out of which arose the idea of slow food as an alternative way of preparing and consuming food. We are trying to promote the idea of slow tourism. To the extent that tourists visit this country, if they all remain in one city or location or simply drive through other parts of the country without stopping and spending money, the economic gains from tourism are under-represented around the country. We are trying to present a form of tourism which involves slowing down to walk or cycle around an area to explore and find out about it. That drives much of our thinking and it also fits in with the idea of tourism experiences. We know that visitors to Ireland do not come for the sun or the skiing. They are looking for an authentic experience.

On whether our strategies are joined up in terms of people in the private sector talking to State agencies or communities, the tourism prize will only be captured if all those involved in local areas are joined up. Apart from being an industry that is represented in every parish, the average tourism business employs nine people. These businesses are not even SMEs; they are micro-enterprises typically rooted in their communities. The tourism sector as a whole employs 185,000 people but if one takes away some of the bigger players, such as our 900 hotels, the typical tourism business employs eight or nine people with an owner-manager who is often very busy with day-to-day tasks, let alone finding the time to think about tomorrow or next month. The future of tourism depends on us joining together to package what each of us does, such as packaging a fishing lodge with the bed and breakfast, the small local bar or restaurant, a tour guide and the mini-bus driver within a five-mile radius. The experience those businesses could offer to the visitor is much richer than simply staying in an individual bed and breakfast.

My colleagues have done significant work in promoting this approach in recent years. We see it as the only way forward because, if we can get it right, we will offer the visitor unique access into a range of Irish people, businesses and communities, while giving them the Irish experience they want. It is easy to think of tourism solely in terms of hotels, restaurants and the hospitality dimension. These activities are enormously important and we are good at them in Ireland but there is a cart and horse concept in that very few people come to Ireland to sleep in a bed. Irrespective of what vocabulary we use and whether our vocabulary is of experiences or of someone who just wants to go hill walking or diving, people come to Ireland to see sights and get involved in activities. The primary driver in attracting people to Ireland is what they can do, see, get involved in and experience. If we get that right, we will backfill on hotels, beds, bars and restaurants because people have to sleep, eat and drink somewhere. We need to sharpen up on the experience which joined-up communities and small businesses can offer, with guidance and support where possible from Leader.

Reference was made to the ESB. As we noted in our paper, much of the work we do is with and through other agencies. As the tourism board, we do not have any particular authority or licence to put a sign in the ground or punch holes in walls. We work particularly closely with local authorities, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Office of Public Works and Bord na Móna, as well as landowners such as the ESB. The land owned by public utilities is often where visitors will go to encounter experiences. We are sensitive to the importance of remaining close to landowners as a gateway into giving tourists the experiences we want them to have. Obviously at certain periods we will be closer to some agencies than others, such as when we are implementing particular projects, but we are mindful of that and it would be a barrier to us if we were not observant of our relationships.

Deputy Ferris asked about the six Northern counties and our connection with them. The majority of members will be aware of the structures created around us as the National Tourism Development Authority for the Twenty-six Counties. We have a sister agency, Tourism Ireland, which operates under the North-South Ministerial Council governance structures with the remit of promoting and selling the island of Ireland internationally. This work involves extensive collaboration between the various players in the tourism industry. As an agency, we work closely with Tourism Ireland because while that agency is tasked with promoting Ireland internationally, it is our job to ensure its promises are delivered when the visitor arrives. At a more basic level, such as along the Wild Atlantic Way, we are in conversation with our counterparts in the North of Ireland regarding the Antrim coast and the Giant's Causeway to develop an onward connection to Northern Ireland. Mr. Paddy Mathews may have more to say about that.

Our thinking is also guided by other issues of principle but our focus is on slow tourism, spatial distribution and ensuring the economic gain from the €5 billion of tourism spending is distributed to cash registers around the country. One way of doing that is by promoting big ideas when we can. The Wild Atlantic Way is an example of our recognition of another point of principle. We are trying to attract international visitors because they bring new money to expand the Irish economy. However, international visitors do not know Ireland as well as we do. While we are sensitive to distinctions between Donegal, Cork and Clare, the international message is the west of Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way. That is the big idea and if we can get people to switch on to it, we will get them. They may not come back next year but they may come back in subsequent years to tour other parts of Ireland. With fast motorway access out of Dublin, people can hire a car in Dublin and reach the driving route of the Wild Atlantic Way in two or three hours. We like to believe it will be an instrument through which people in Donegal, west Cork, Galway and Clare can be well-positioned and supported in telling the stories of their local communities and businesses and to bundle these stories together in a way that gives visitors a reason to stay four or five nights.