Mr. Cian ? Lion?in:

Míle buíochas, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. I welcome the opportunity to engage with the committee on the development of rural tourism in Ireland. A key feature of the tourism offering is the proximity of rural and urban experiences. Only minutes outside our busy cities and large towns, visitors will find quiet rural retreats with wonderful scenery, attractions and visitor offerings. While the Department and its agencies are focused on the sustainable development of tourism across the whole country, the particular importance of tourism to communities in every corner of Ireland is well understood, especially in our rural communities. Tourism is nationally important as a key employment sector and driver of regional economies.

The Department and the tourism agencies, namely, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, are conscious of the importance of tourism for the regions. Our colleagues in Fáilte Ireland have been working on the development of regional tourism strategies that will be complemented at a more local level by destination experience development plans. In marketing Ireland as a holiday destination, Tourism Ireland is undertaking activity aimed at generating demand that delivers balanced regional growth. This includes its twinning initiative, which involves overseas markets having a particular focus on a specific region. The work of both agencies should ensure greater regional dispersal of tourists can create opportunities for businesses, job creation in more communities and business in the shoulder seasons.

Ireland’s natural assets can also be complemented by appropriate product development across the regions. In budget 2023, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, secured €36.5 million to support that continued tourism product development. A relevant recent example in this context is the launch last Friday of Ireland’s programme for the EU just transition fund, which will see the investment of €68 million in tourism in the midlands. This regenerative tourism scheme will be a driver of employment for the midlands, with the funding to be broken down under a number of headings, namely, the delivery of a strategic network of connected walking, cycling and water trails across the midlands; helping support public, private and community-based tourism enterprises to enhance and sustain local economies; and provision of a range of supports for smart transformation and entrepreneurship. The Minister also secured an additional €15 million for overseas marketing in 2023. Of that, €3 million has been allocated for the regional co-operative marketing scheme to enable tactical partnerships that will help drive increases in visitors to the regions. This will amplify the Ireland message overseas and support direct access to the regional airports and seaports. Additional domestic marketing funding secured for this year will allow Fáilte Ireland to continue to build momentum on a mass-reach media marketing campaign called Keep Discovering. Particular focus will be put on promoting regional destinations and supporting shoulder season tourism.

It is now recognised that tourism growth must be sustainable environmentally, as well as commercially and socially. This means we must reimagine the tourism sector and address sustainable tourism development in a more meaningful way. With that in mind, the Department has initiated the development of a new national tourism policy that will seek to mainstream sustainability. This new tourism policy will seek to support sustainable development in communities throughout the country, while protecting our environment and natural resources and with a greater spread of demand across the year. This will be of particular importance to the regions.

When we look at the wider economy and the particular set of challenges facing the tourism industry it is clear that a collective and concerted multi-stakeholder approach to tackling these challenges is required and that is the approach the Department will continue to pursue.