Ms Catherine Flanagan:

The Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions, AVEA, is the representative body for the visitor experiences and attractions sector. Our members employ 4,500 people, and in 2019 welcomed over 25 million visitors generating €500 million in revenues. Our members include profit and not-for-profit enterprises.

Of the approximately 480 visitor attraction sites in the 26 counties, 83% are outside Dublin. Thus, AVEA has a deep and sustained interest in the optimisation of conditions to support rural tourism. Our members include attractions in strategically important locations, such as the Cliffs of Moher, Birr Castle, Spike Island and Dunbrody Famine Ship, to name a few. Many visitor attractions are located in areas that do not offer alternative employment opportunities but in themselves are tremendous drivers of local rural economies. They provide direct employment, generating revenues that are spent locally in the purchase of goods and services. They also drive demand for ancillary services, like hotels, food service, retail, and transportation, and they need a strong and integrated local support structure, including good access, a labour pool, accommodation, electric vehicle, EV, charging points, and more. We refer to this as the tourism ecosystem and all parts of it must function healthily and symbiotically for the local tourism economy to thrive.

Visitor attractions also sustain local communities economically, socially and culturally. They play a regenerative role in sustainably managing visitors to areas of outstanding natural beauty; curating and recounting local heritage and history; showcasing local traditions and crafts; educating; and providing beautiful settings for leisure and recreation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, visitor attractions experienced prolonged periods of closure and then operated without international visitors and with drastically reduced capacities. This season, the pace of recovery in most rurally-based attractions is 70 to 75% of 2019 levels. This contrasts with greater than a 90% recovery for Dublin. Counties where tourism accommodation is currently low will experience the slowest, longest recovery of all. AVEA sees opportunities to develop rural tourism in a sympathetic and sustainable way, to respond to changing consumer wishes, to create new visitor offerings and to mitigate a seasonal economy. These include slow tourism; dark skies; agritourism; alternative accommodation offerings; blueways, greenways and walkways; closer engagement with State agencies that manage national parks, waterways, boglands and forests; product development; and intra-tourism carbon offset programmes, to name a few. AVEA also recognises the opportunity to welcome our "new Irish" citizens as visitors to our attractions.

In conclusion, with thoughtful, considerate and sustainable planning, the rural tourism offering in Ireland has opportunities to enhance the experience of domestic and international visitors by playing to the strengths of the country's natural beauty, built heritage and rich stories. The immediate future for AVEA’s rural members is challenging due to disruption of the tourism ecosystem and consideration should be given to an all-of-government approach to help in our businesses’ recovery that we may continue to delight and engage visitors.