Mr. Adrian Cummins:

I thank the members of the committee for the opportunity for our president, Paul Lenehan, and I to appear at this meeting. The development of rural tourism in Ireland is closely linked to the restaurant sector. We welcome this renewed interest and investment that is necessary to ensure the restaurant and food industry across the island is able to recover from recent pressures, while given the opportunity to thrive.

To ensure the development of rural tourism, we should seek to maximise the benefits from food tourism. Food has an especially important role in this modern economy and in the development of tourism services in particular. Food tourism is about the range of food experiences available for visitors which forms a vital part of the value network linking local food producers, communities and cultural and tourism entrepreneurs. Growth opportunities in this area can be maximised by expanding the number and variety of authentic, high-quality food experiences that are easily accessed by the visitor, for example but not limited to, farms open to visitors; producers with visitor facilities; demonstrations of traditional skills or authentic techniques such as smoking, cheesemaking and museums or exhibitions that link the agriculture and food heritage of a region.

Anecdotal evidence of the benefits of food tourism can be seen from the success of the 2013 Fáilte Ireland initiative, The Gathering. This initiative was created to draw the global Irish diaspora back to Ireland via almost 5,000 events across the country organised by local communities. The Restaurants Association of Ireland suggests the creation of a similar initiative specifically tailored to boost the development of rural tourism. This initiative would showcase Ireland internationally, as a destination for world-class experience of rural tourism through various festivals, sporting events, plays and food experiences throughout rural Ireland. Multiple Government initiatives are aimed toward the development of the agrifood sector, such as Food Wise 2025 and Food Vision 2030. The former sets out the practical ways in which aspirations for growth within the agrifood sector can be made tangible through research, development and innovation, while the latter outlines key objectives for Ireland’s agrifood sector to become an international leader in sustainable food systems.

These initiatives highlight the role of the agrifood sector in the development of rural Ireland and provide the Government a detailed roadmap of investment priorities to maximise the potential benefits of the industry.

Continuous support for the agrifood sector would have a direct effect on rural food tourism and will undoubtedly kick-start the revival of many local, rural communities that have been decimated from the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the below average tourism levels.

Fáilte Ireland’s research into consumer behaviour for food tourism has not been updated since 2020. We recommend further research is carried out to track best practice for consumers and inform future development. We suggest this research should include a specific focus on rural areas to ensure rural businesses have the best information to restructure their business in a post Covid-19 environment. The Restaurants Association of Ireland would be happy to assist in any future research.

According to the most recent economic commentary by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, the accommodation and food sectors is one of the only sectors not to have reached or surpassed pre-2019 employment levels. Therefore, the Restaurants Association of Ireland advocates for an increase in investment and research into programmes designed to boost tourism and hospitality-related education. We would also look at the continuation of the 9% VAT rate past September of this year. Judging from discussions with our members and the sector as a whole, the restaurant sector is not doing as well as it should and we believe the continuation of the 9% VAT rate should be maintained beyond September. I thank the committee for its time.