Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications
Proposed Sale of Aer Lingus: Discussion (Resumed)
11:00 am
Mr. Stephen McNally:
From a tourism point of view, it has to be remembered that in 2014 we attracted 7.6 million tourists and it took us five years to get back up to this level. Our largest tourism market is the UK. More than 3 million of those visitors came from the UK and, therefore, connectivity is absolutely crucial. We must also never forget that we are an island and it does not pass one by. It is either coming here or it is not. From that point of view for businesses in our industry and in tourism all over the west coast and the south, connectivity is imperative for us to sustain growth. Every industry has had a difficult five years but tourism has been a shining light and it would be folly for something to threaten that now.
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