John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of this segment is to meet representatives of Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation, who are here to inform the committee about the current state of play in the Irish tourism industry. On behalf of the committee, I welcome from Tourism Ireland Mr. Peter Nash, head of strategic development and insights, and Ms Monica MacLaverty, head of overseas marketing for The Gathering Ireland 2013; from Fáilte Ireland, Mr. Shaun Quinn, chief executive, and Mr. Aidan Pender, director and strategic development; and from the Irish Hotels Federation, Mr. Tim Fenn, chief executive, and Mr. Michael Vaughan, president.

I draw the witnesses' attention to the fact that, by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, they are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence in respect of a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise nor make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. I also wish to advise them that their opening statements will be put on the committee's website after the meeting. Members are also reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

With the housekeeping out of the way, we can continue with the presentations. I ask that each group limit its presentation to eight or ten minutes. If speakers wish to share time, that is fine. If it is okay with members, we will hear the three presentations first and take questions afterwards.

Mr. Peter Nash:

We thank the committee for the opportunity to address it today. I am head of strategic development at Tourism Ireland and I am here to represent our chief executive, Mr. Niall Gibbons, who was unavoidably unable to attend today. I am joined by Ms Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland's overseas manager for The Gathering Ireland 2013, who will update the committee on that project.

As members know, Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas, having been established as one of the six areas of co-operation under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement. Our role is to encourage overseas leisure and business tourists to choose the island of Ireland for their trip rather than travelling to any of over 200 destinations competing for attention. Tourism is one of Ireland's largest indigenous industries, generating revenues of over €5 billion, which is approximately 4% of our gross national product. Overseas tourism accounts for almost 60% of this revenue.

The year, 2012, was positive for overseas tourism and despite the continuing economic challenges in many of our key markets, we welcomed approximately 7.3 million overseas visitors, which was an increase of 5% on the previous year and 6% in the revenue generated within the sector. The overall sentiment for travel to the island of Ireland this year is largely positive and a very encouraging early start to the season. The most recent Central Statistics Office figures for overseas travel to the Republic of Ireland indicate growth of more than 6% up to the end of May, with growth recorded from all the major market areas. Considering a more detailed analysis of overseas tourism performance for the first quarter of the year, there is very good growth in holidaymakers, whose numbers were up by nearly 20%, and in overseas tourism revenue, which is up by approximately 12%. However, it is important to point out that not all tourism businesses across the island have been sharing equally in this return to growth.

Certain overseas markets are performing particularly well now, with Australia and other long-haul markets, including India and China, looking set for another record year in 2013. North America is on course to deliver its strongest performance ever, with over 1 million visitors expected from the United States this year. We expect these visitors will spend approximately $1 billion while on the island of Ireland.

Ms Monica MacLaverty:

The Gathering Ireland 2013 has been a major focus for Tourism Ireland over the past 18 months. Tourism Ireland has responsibility for the overseas marketing of this initiative. Our objectives are threefold in order to meet our target of 325,000 incremental visitors and €180 million in incremental revenue.

The first objective is to develop a meaningful engagement with the Irish diaspora overseas while encouraging it to organise their gatherings in Ireland. This translated into Tourism Ireland's overseas partnership programme where we reached out to diaspora networks, Irish associations, embassies and Irish federations. To date, this has resulted in over 500 Gatherings which have been pledged and which will bring in approximately 20,000 incremental visitors. The next objective is to reach out to the tens of millions in the Irish diaspora overseas with a specific invitation to invite them home in 2013. Working closely with The Gathering Ireland, Tourism Ireland has promoted those Gatherings in Ireland with the greatest potential to attract incremental overseas visitors. This has resulted in over 85 Facebook campaigns in the year to date micro-targeting specific passion points from Harley Davidsons and GAA to comedy festivals and literature. To date, we have created an overseas database for these festivals and Gatherings of 170,00 overseas people who are interested in these festivals. This is a database that they can target next year and in years to come. The final objective is to create a sense of urgency for all potential visitors to come and visit Ireland in 2013.

To ensure we deliver on all of these objectives and achieve the growth we set out, it was imperative to work closely with the associations and networks available to us. The Institute of Directors in Great Britain provides access to 30,000 Irish people who sit on the boards of British companies. The Federation of Irish Societies, the Lansdowne Club, chambers of commerce, the Ireland Funds and Irish embassies are just a few examples of invaluable networks we continue to work with throughout the year.

From a business tourism perspective, Tourism Ireland has achieved a number of successes including the Spar International conference, which took place in Dublin and Killarney bringing 280 incremental overseas visitors, which brought in an incremental revenue of €820,000. Alltech, with its impressive 3,000 delegates, will be worth over €3 million to the Irish economy and Fujitsu, with 300 delegates, was won in Great Britain by working with an Irish enabler, Mary McNally. The Aer Lingus-Etihad hurling Gathering taking place in Galway is another great example of a new event that was created this year to target the overseas diaspora. The Manchester Irish Festival will bring 1,000 incremental visitors to Mayo in August.

Tourism Ireland worked very closely with our airline partners and Dublin Airport Authority in the early days as we recognised the importance of having the access in place to support the impending increase in demand. We used The Gathering as an additional hook to ensure that Ireland stood out among fierce international competition and developed business cases to support airlines investing in incremental capacity to Ireland for 2013. The result has been rewarding and we are delighted to see an increase in capacity from North America of 27%. This translates into 4,000 additional seats from North America to Ireland per week during the peak season. The Gathering has certainly contributed to this success.

The four core Gathering markets are the US, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. Early indications are that our efforts are succeeding and forward bookings from tour operators and airline carriers look very positive. In non-core markets such as France and Germany, our message is that The Gathering is an invitation to the world to celebrate the best of Irish food, history, culture, sports, fun and lots more.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Ms Monica MacLaverty. We will move straight on to Mr. Shaun Quinn from Fáilte Ireland.

Mr. Shaun Quinn:

Thank you, Chairman, and members of the committee for providing Fáilte Ireland with this opportunity to contribute. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Aidan Pender, who is the director of strategic development within Fáilte Ireland. I am here in my capacity as chief executive and as chairman of The Gathering.

With the permission of the Chair, I would like to read extracts from my opening statement summarising our perspective on the current performance of tourism and setting out some of the key initiatives we are progressing to support continued growth. If I were to sum our mission in one word, it would be "growth". Growth has a particular relevance within our current strategic framework. As we see it, our role is to guide and support the sustainable tourism growth across the country. We are concerned with two issues primarily in growth. The first is employment growth, given the labour intensive nature of this industry which employs 180,000 people. We believe it has a significant role to play in jobs growth nationally, while the second is revenue growth. In this we want to emphasise overseas revenue growth for two reasons. Domestic demand is flat and will remain so for a couple of years and we need foreign earnings as it contributes significantly to the drive for an export-led recovery.

In terms of how is tourism faring, Mr. Peter Nash has given much of the detail and the statistics. From my perspective, standing back, I believe we are going through a time of transition and challenge in tourism and we are on the verge of entering a new phase for the sector. Members will be aware from the CSO figures earlier in the week that visitor numbers are increasing from virtually all markets. That is good news, coming as it does after four very difficult seasons. During that period the industry experienced a significant drop in market demand along with pressure to cut prices while costs were remaining high. In the past four years the objective of every tourism business was simply to survive. I am happy to tell the committee that they did survive in large numbers.

However, crucially, I emphasise that this current season marks something of a transition to a new phase. We are seeing a shift from that survival phase characterised by price-cutting and a "hold on tight" mentality towards a recovery in growth phase, characterised by a renewed confidence in the industry that with the right business model and sales strategy they can grow again. This is a very positive development but it is not without its challenges.

Key overseas markets such as the United States, France and Germany and others are recovering and the performance, so far this year, is very encouraging. However, the Irish market and British markets, our two largest tourism markets, are certainly not growing because of adverse economic circumstances in each. If these circumstances persist, the industry will face a number of challenges. In the first instance, there is the need to reduce its exposure to the home market. That must be clear to every tourism business. If we are looking for growth it will not be found at home; it will be overseas and it may not be in Britain but further afield. For many businesses this means either making the transition to actively selling overseas, or at least increasing their understanding and awareness of such markets. At a minimum this will require firms to develop a better understanding of those market segments where the consumer wants best fit with what their business has to offer, and also a better understanding of the various routes to markets, recognising that the online world, the Internet and social media, will play a much bigger role in this business in future. Tourism firms will have to grapple with that and, hopefully, overcome it. In practice, this means that firms need a more sophisticated understanding of how to access customers in places such as Germany and France and the channels through which they can be accessed. For example, it could be traditional media, advertising, tour operators, online travel or through social media and how to engage with them.

What does that mean for businesses? For some firms it means placing much greater emphasis on continental European markets such as France and Germany where the medium term prospects are probably better than in Britain. For example, this type of recalibration could prompt a turnaround in the tourism fortunes of many businesses west of the Shannon, which are operating with a product which we know appeals to French and German visitors. For far too long the west has probably been too dependent on the domestic trade. Therefore, there is an opportunity here for that part of the country.

In recognition of emerging opportunities in particular markets, we have been particularly active across a number of fronts to ensure that businesses are well placed to exploit any recovery in key markets. We believe that Ireland’s comparative advantage in tourism can be found in three areas – our natural heritage, our built heritage and our cultural heritage. All of us who work in tourism need to focus laser-like on the opportunities these areas represent. This involves recognising that visitors come to Ireland to see and do those things which add up to a memorable experience. What does this mean? Nobody will come to Ireland just to sleep in a bed or to eat a meal or buy a beer. Thankfully, when they come here they do that, but what persuades them to come is a prior conviction that Ireland provides a leisure break which is unique and authentic. In other words, they must believe that there are things they can see and do in Ireland, which can only be experienced in Ireland, and tourism businesses must make sure that expectation is realised.

This is Ireland's greatest asset and it goes back to the three legs of the stool – natural heritage, built heritage and cultural heritage. If we become more adept at how we sell these experiences, then the consumer will realise that they can only have these experiences in Ireland – because they are unique. In this sense, Irish tourism is a truly indigenous industry, which by definition, means it cannot be “off-shored” to some other part of the world.

We rightly enjoy an international reputation for the quality of our hospitality sector – our hotels, restaurants and bars. We are good at that because it is in our DNA, but this next phase of growth will only be realised if we can develop this other strand in our DNA which dials up our ability to engage with the visitor in a range of things to see and do. In essence, we are in the entertainment business - this is at the heart of Irish tourism. Our next phase of growth therefore will require us to strengthen this entertainment strand and combine it with our existing strengths in hospitality. This is an emerging area of focus as we work to support businesses, which is a new departure. In the past three or four years our work has been around cutting costs, working with banks and getting value for money right. According to independent research, our value for money ratings, as judged by visitors, is at its highest level in more than a decade. We have regained our competitive position and, therefore, we are in good shape.

The degree to which we are collectively successful in growing overseas sales will depend on a variety of factors and not least the quality and range of experiences we have to offer.

Mr. Tim Fenn:

I thank the committee for inviting the Irish Hotels Federation, IHF, to address it. I am the chief executive of the IHF and I am joined by Mr. Michael Vaughan, our president. The Irish Hotels Federation, founded in 1937, is the national organisation of the hotel and guesthouse industry in Ireland and is a key stakeholder in Irish tourism. Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and provides an estimated 196,000 jobs, equivalent to 11% of total employment in the country. With more than 50,000 people directly employed by hotels and guesthouses in Ireland, the hotel sector has a critical role to play in job creation and the recovery of the wider economy. We welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, that a tourism policy review will commence later in the year. We recommend that this be integrated with national aviation policy in terms of greater air connectivity, and policies affecting our national food brand.

The federation identifies the following key challenges facing Irish tourism: effective tourism product development and the marketing of Ireland abroad; the restoration of financial sustainability to the Irish hotel sector; greater cost competitiveness within the economy; and the restoration of vocational and craft training structures to the sector. The Irish Hotels Federation collaborates with both Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland in the areas of product development, marketing, quality and standards, training, and registration and classification. The federation believes it is vital to maintain the real level of funding for Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland’s marketing budgets, including a specific budget for special events such as last year’s Emerald Isle Classic, which was an enormous success. It is also important that the Government maintains the tourism capital expenditure programme and continues to support Fáilte Ireland’s strategy to develop new experiential products such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Waterford’s Viking Triangle and the Great Western Greenway in County Mayo.

While tourism business levels have increased in some urban areas since the beginning of 2012, performance has been poor for hotels and guesthouses in many parts of the country, resulting in a two-tier recovery in the market. Specific long-term marketing measures are required therefore to address this imbalance. In particular, we would like to see a review of the regional tourism structures with a view to improving engagement between the various stakeholders and promoting better co-ordination and leverage in the development of new experiential products while ensuring maximum efficiency in use of resources.

Notwithstanding the requirement to achieve stronger recovery in the Great Britain market, we support Tourism Ireland in its strategy to target mainland Europe as an increasingly important market for tourism that delivers more holidaymakers and revenue than Great Britain. We also support Tourism Ireland’s strategy to pursue improved combined UK and Ireland visa access, which has the potential to deliver additional growth from emerging tourism markets such as India and China.

The onset of the debt crisis in Ireland saw a dramatic deterioration in profitability within the hotel sector. A large number of hotels have gone into receivership or come under bank control. It is the federation’s policy to reverse this trend and to restore ownership to those who have a long-term interest in the industry. With that in mind, last year the federation commissioned an independent report to identify and evaluate proposals to restore financial sustainability to the industry by attracting new equity investment. The report was carried out by the economist, Dr. Alan Ahearne, of NUI Galway and it explored how debt restructuring could allow hotels to operate on a long-term sustainable basis. The federation subsequently hosted an investment conference in October 2012 to promote investment in our sector, and this was attended by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar. The IHF made various submissions to Government, and the employment and investment incentive scheme was extended in the Finance Act 2013 to include registered hotels, guesthouses and other tourism traffic undertakings. We are in the process of rolling out workshops throughout the country to promote the scheme as part of our debt restructuring agenda.

The federation maintains that initiatives currently being explored to increase the availability of equity capital to the hotel sector will help put viable and otherwise viable hotels on a more stable footing.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Mr. Fenn and all the witnesses for the three enlightening presentations. As members and as individual citizens, we all have been watching The Gathering and the issues pertaining to tourism and what the joint committee has heard this morning can be summed up in the word "growth", which is important to the tourism sector and to the economy. Members also have just heard from the Irish Hotels Federation regarding the difficulties that still persist for hotels, which are key members of this drive for growth. Before turning to the members, I note the figures suggest that 4,175 events have been organised for The Gathering but on a lighter note, I welcome that our friends in the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA, in London have enabled the addition of one more such event, scheduled for 21 July. I hope the runways at Ireland West Airport Knock will be crowded out for that event.

On a more serious note, however, I wish to pick up on a number of points. A couple of the presentations mentioned overall growth in more difficult times and less growth in the British market. In his presentation, I believe Mr. Nash mentioned that mainland Europe is an increasingly important market for the tourism industry and has now overtaken Britain, whereas for Fáilte Ireland, the Irish and British markets are still the largest markets. I seek clarification in this regard. My other question pertains to the observation that the recovery is uneven throughout the country, as the increases are taking place in Dublin and a number of cities. From a Dublin perspective, I note it is harder to get a hotel room now than was the case a couple of years ago. While that is anecdotal evidence, I also am aware of evidence suggesting the increases are not spreading as much to the rural areas in particular. Perhaps all three delegations might articulate something in this regard.

Mr. Shaun Quinn:

I thank the Vice Chairman. While my colleagues can add to my comments, when I stated the Irish and British markets were the largest, I was trying to put it into context in that although they are indeed the largest markets, they are not growing at all. This accentuates the challenge for the trade as to make up for the downturn at home and in Britain, quite a lot of work must be done in some of the other markets. However, as Mr. Peter Nash has indicated, and he will elaborate in respect of Tourism Ireland's strategy in Britain, there are opportunities within the British market. However, while the extent to which we can get back to the position that obtained previously remains an open question, some opportunities certainly exist there. The Vice Chairman is quite right that tourism is experiencing a multi-speed recovery to the extent that some parts of the country are way out in front. Dublin is out in the lead, driven largely by conferences, festivals and events rather than by leisure. It is followed by the other larger urban centres such as Galway, Kilkenny, Cork and Killarney and the third phase pertains to the more rurally-based operations, some of which may not be experiencing any recovery because they are heavily reliant on a domestic market that is not growing at present or perhaps they have not had the opportunity to tap into some of the international business. Consequently, the Vice Chairman is quite right; it is very hazardous to generalise at present because not everyone is experiencing the rising tide. However, our hope is this will happen.

Mr. Peter Nash:

If I may clarify the point regarding Britain versus Europe and their significance, Tourism Ireland's primary focus is on the attraction of the holidaymaker rather than visitors in total. My reference was to the fact that over time, as our numbers of holidaymakers from Britain has been increasingly challenged, the growing numbers from Europe visiting Ireland as a holiday destination means that for this holiday audience, Europe is overtaking Britain as a source of holidaymakers.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

To tackle the issues in terms of the breadth of recovery, what we are seeing, and Mr. Quinn is correct, is that where we have cities that have business and conference facilities and venues such as The O2 and other venues such as in Dublin and similarly in Cork, one is getting a mix of business, but where one is talking about pure tourism business on the west coast, such as the area you represent, Vice Chairman, it is a more challenging position. In one way the rural isolation we had when it was not that easy to get to those places was a big benefit in one sense. The new national roads structure means the cities can be a base for a holiday where people can go and visit the attractions along the west coast and get back in the same day. That is a challenge.

I am delighted with the reference to Knock Airport because aviation is a key to this given that 90% of tourists come in by air. Until we tackle the ability to bring mass tourism from central Europe to airports such as Knock, Shannon and Cork, we are going to be in difficulty because our main markets want to come to the west but there is a difficulty in aviation these days in the risk of bringing new services. That was evident in Knock in terms of what needed to be done to bring in a service such as Lufthansa. Aviation policy goes to the heart of the issue. We must find a way to tie down the ability to bring in new air services with the needs of the airlines in order to have a guarantee on the services.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Accessibility is the key. It would be ironic if the majority of tourism sites were the last to recover.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

Access is vital.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the three presentations. It is helpful for us that the witnesses attend regularly to update us on their activities. I do not see it as our duty to take the witnesses to task on their work. They all have boards of directors who have that role. Our role is one of support. I would be interested to hear what more we could do from a regulatory or legislative point of view to assist the witnesses in the marketing of this country overseas.

I echo the sentiments of the Vice Chairman on the distribution of tourists. It is clear to all of us that the main centre, in particular on the east coast, is developing more quickly. That goes back to what Mr. Nash has said about the holidaymaker versus the visitor. The east coast benefits from visitors more so than the rest of the country.

We published a report yesterday on the sponsorship and advertising of sports by the drinks industry. Do the witnesses have any views in that regard?

In terms of dealing with the structures around encouraging visitors and holidaymakers to travel to the regions, could the witnesses elaborate on the marketing structures and the structures of Fáilte Ireland in the regions? Could anything more be done to harness more activity into the regions, promote them and encourage more tourism?

Could Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland comment on what Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Fenn said about air access and port access? I was struck by what both witnesses from the Irish Hotels Federation said about the importance of opening up to new markets. They indicated the difficulties in the UK and the opportunities in Europe. As the witnesses are aware, there has been much contact between Ireland and China and it is seen as an emerging market. That is not to suggest that all resources should be directed towards marketing in China and to ignore the other markets. Is there a strategic plan focused on the Chinese market and if so, how then would the Government support the agencies in terms of bringing together air transport and air access points? The points raised by the Irish Hotels Federation are valid.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

I will take the questions. In terms of sponsorship by drinks companies, the federation’s view is that drink sponsorship by and large has been a huge benefit to the tourism industry in terms of the sporting events it has sponsored. We see that in the communities in which the sponsorship has been available. We support the view taken by the committee yesterday. Other issues are stronger and more pertinent in terms of the overall argument about drink, for example below-cost selling of alcohol. In our industry the difficulty we have in many cases due to below-cost selling of alcohol is that we have been unable to control the consumption of alcohol in some hotels because people bring alcohol into the premises and drink privately in their rooms and even bring it into public functions. It is becoming a widespread difficulty for us. That is something that must be tackled before alcohol sponsorship of sport.

The difficulty in terms of sport is that if the alcohol companies were not available to sponsor international events in particular, there is no other State authority that would step in to do it although we have seen that when sponsorship of the Irish Open ceased, the State, through Fáilte Ireland, sponsored the event.

The difficulty with regional tourism is the dissipation of spend. County councils have a tourism function. Leader funds are also involved. In addition, there was the old regional tourism structure. There has not been a confluence of all those elements. The difficulty we have is that the co-ordination of money is critical. Many great activities are happening but there is much duplication in the area as well. Following on from one of the points we made earlier in the presentation, we would like to see some form of new regional tourism structures that bring together the elements of county councils and Leader programmes and co-ordinate the spend. We are too small an island to go off in many different directions. There is great opportunity to harness all the efforts. One of the things about The Gathering is that it has socially activated communities that were never involved in tourism previously and now they are, and this is an opportunity for us to bring together a structure in order that we can go forward and create even better growth.

Mr. Shaun Quinn:

I wish to make one or two points. The Fáilte Ireland authority has not taken a position on drinks company sponsorship. Leaving alcohol to one side, event sponsorship is a significant issue at the moment. As I said in my presentation, we are very heavily involved in cultural and sporting events. Since the economic downturn, the private sector has practically withdrawn from some events. Mr. Vaughan correctly referred to the Irish Open last weekend, but equally we could point to several other events. Those events add colour to the tourism product. What is happening is that the State is being asked to become increasingly involved, and that is not a sustainable proposition.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Has Fáilte Ireland increased its funding of events since the downturn?

Mr. Shaun Quinn:

I would like to give the committee a straight answer. We get large events in particular years. For example, the Volvo Ocean Race involved a €4 million spend, but we do not have that every year. We are trying to maintain our spend but it is difficult to do it. We see ourselves as being one party in the mix.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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From a transportation perspective, are the tourism agencies working with the Government to establish a strategy for targeting specific markets - this ties in with the work Mr. Nash is doing - and seeking to ensure air access to support this strategy?

Mr. Peter Nash:

The support of members of the joint committee and Members of the Oireachtas generally in attending some of our events overseas is extremely important to and valued by Tourism Ireland. To respond to Deputy Dooley's comments on the strategy for new and developing markets and how we could work together in this area, this year we have had an increase of approximately 20% in air access from the new and developing markets. The key priority is to use this significant increase in access as the basis for communicating with the trade and media in the markets in question and inform them that Ireland is more accessible than it was previously.

In terms of areas in which we could work together in future, the primary area is visas. There has been a degree of liberalisation in the issuing of visas, which has been of great importance both in terms of making it easier to get to Ireland and for us to get across an important message in far-away markets where Ireland is not well known. We should work together to achieve greater liberalisation of and new approaches to visas in respect of areas from which more people will come to Ireland.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Has any analysis been done of product demand? Ireland has a strong product based on our scenery, mountains and lakes. Is this product becoming tired and stale as demographics change in the target markets? Are potential tourists seeking something more than the green island we have sold and marketed extremely well? If so, what analysis has been done to try to understand demand? If and when this has been done, the tourism industry bodies will need to receive funding to support the development of appropriate products.

Mr. Aidan Pender:

We have done significant analysis. Last year, in particular, a considerable amount of detailed work was done on understanding consumer wants and needs in the United Kingdom. This work is being extended into Germany and France and, to some extent, the United States. What has been apparent in the past 12 months to two years is that we need to obtain better and deeper insights into consumer behaviour in our source markets than have been available in previous years. We are actively pursuing this and have obtained a better sense of what consumers are looking for, which enables us to segment them into different groups.

There has been a great deal of reflection on whether the Irish tourism product is getting tired, as Deputy Dooley noted, in terms of lakes, mountains and natural heritage. The other way to view this issue is to decide we are where we are, as it were, and these are our lakes, mountains, coastline, culture, language and folklore. These elements make up our heritage. Consumers are not tiring of this and there is nothing inherently jaded about the set of Irish tourism assets. We need to increasingly switch on to the fact that as lifestyles and consumer behaviours and interests change, we need to change the way in which visitors engage with these assets. Although there is not a fundamental problem or flaw with the tourism asset base, the nature of engagement is shifting enormously. The trick is to be very clever about how we allow or facilitate visitors to engage with our tourism assets.

To give a simple example, if one imagines how the Ring of Kerry, a globally known tourism product, was encountered by visitors in the 1960s and 1970s, people basically travelled around on a bus and looked out of the window. Visitors, irrespective of their age, are more active, energetic and better informed and want to engage with Ireland rather than observing it from a bus. There are issues about allowing tourists to slow down, take their time, learn a little and immerse themselves in our tourism assets. The asset base is in good shape. The challenge is to work to facilitate visitors to engage with it.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As a division is under way in the Dáil Chamber, we will suspend briefly.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We are resumed in public session. As Deputy Harrington has to leave shortly, I will call him first to be followed by Deputy Ann Phelan.

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Unfortunately, I have to leave to attend an urgent meeting and I beg the indulgence of the members to speak first.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That is okay.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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That is fine but if the Deputy asks the questions I intend to ask we might have a difficulty.

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I am just getting my train of thought after the vote. I thank Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation for their presentations to the committee. It is a good news story that the 2013 figures to date are positive, but it is a tale of two countries in terms of tourism in many ways. If I could be a little parochial, I live in west Cork and that part of the country is not seeing the bounce that is reflected in the figures the witnesses have put forward today, welcome as they are. The witnesses are flying the green flag and that is as it should be. Many of our communities who have engaged with The Gathering or who have seen for the first time the benefits of tourism do not, in an economic context, have the same options that are available to those in urban areas. We cannot attract Enterprise Ireland or IDA investment into those areas. For many of those communities, the only lifeline they can see to maintain economic activity is tourism or tourism-based products. There is great frustration in this respect among small communities who do not have a built heritage but have the natural and cultural heritage on which the witnesses have put such emphasis and they do not see the same return. It is not the job of the witnesses' organisations to build hotels or infrastructure but we have access issues. That is a big problem along the western seaboard. The witnesses can talk about the Wild Atlantic Way from Donegal down to the south west but if they market it to countries it will be difficult for tourists to access it. Our national roads infrastructure has torpedoed the Cork-Dublin scheduled flights. An interesting initiative was undertaken in west Cork some years back when the people there tried to build the Cork-Swansea ferry from scratch through community initiatives but, regrettably, that project fell flat. Many people lost a good deal of money on it and it is indicative of the frustration that has been felt. We recognise we have a product but we are missing the link of getting the market to the product or building on that. How seriously are the witnesses' organisations taking on board the issue of spreading the product beyond west of the Shannon, to borrow a phrase that was used by one of the witnesses?

The second big issue is that of seasonality. The witnesses' organisations will not get the investment they require to get the infrastructure in place in areas along the western seaboard where there is only an eight-week to a ten-week season. There is no reason the marine leisure sector could not be a 12-month product but that is not happening for some reason. Similarly, activity-based products could fill the gap but that does not seem to be happening. A small effort would make a massive difference to places like west Cork and Donegal where the impact would be as significant as the impact of visitor numbers to Temple Bar, Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny and Waterford. I would like to hear the views of the witnesses on how those challenges could be addressed. Those rural areas are equally entitled to get a little of the bounce and share in the welcome news the witnesses have portrayed.

Ms Monica MacLaverty:

From the The Gathering perspective and to address the question on the regionality and seasonality of tourism, if we take ourselves back 12 months when we realised that access from the US was down 25% from 2007, when figures were at their peak, we realised we needed to do something to achieve our ambitious targets for The Gathering. That was at a time when we had no events lined up for The Gathering. There was no calendar of events for The Gathering throughout the year. We were working with the Dublin Airport Authority and with the airlines to build a robust business case to present the opportunity to them that we were increasing business for Ireland and that there would be increased demand. The positives they took from it was that The Gathering would - it is delivering on this - extend the season. It is sustaining the tourism proposition during the shoulder season. That was what was interesting for the airlines rather than having two or three headline events during the peak season.

Mr. Aidan Pender:

The point made by Deputy Harrington is a fundamental one in the tourism debate. It is one in which all of us need to engage more in an effort to move things along. In this regard, we, Fáilte Ireland, talk about spatial distribution of the economic gains of tourism. Tourism as an industry generates economic gains in Ireland, particularly when it is overseas money because as everyone will know it expands the Irish economy. The question is to what extent can we stimulate the spatial distribution of those gains so it does not remain in only the urban centres.

As stated by Ms MacLaverty, we know from research and so on that there is a shortening of stay. People are taking shorter breaks, which is not as much about lifestyles around Europe and North America from where many of our visitors come, but about lifestyles here with people no longer having the same luxury of time as they previously had. As such, they are taking shorter breaks of four, five or six nights. We need to give people alternatives. If not prompted to do otherwise, most consumers will, because they have only a four or five day break, go to Dublin, Galway or Cork city. The challenge always is to ensure people minded to take an urban break are made aware that access in Ireland is so good that even if they arrive at Cork or Dublin city they can be in the west coast in two or three hours, depending on where they want to go. That is now a possibility. As such, a five-night stay would not be compromised by the journey there and back. We are trying to promote this idea through the Wild Atlantic Way, which ensures the west coast of Ireland becomes a compelling, attractive place. We need to do something of this type of begin the spatial distribution. If we think only about local areas we will not rival places like Dublin, Cork, Waterford city and so on.

The Wild Atlantic Way is an attempt to raise things up a level and ensure the west coast of Ireland is seen, in particular by people from Germany, Holland and so on, as something special. If we can get that message out and get people here the Deputy's question of how we motivate them once in Ireland to go to the west coast, to participate, see and do, then arises. It is the see and do that then becomes important. For example, we have invested approximately €2 million in Mizen Bridge and a further €2 million in Garnish Island, which are great tourism assets which are fresh and need to be re-imagined in terms of how visitors engage with them.

Another important area is that of marine tourism. West Cork is a prime location for marine tourism. There is a new debate in support of the spatial distribution. In the past, when people thought about marine tourism, sailing and marinas came to mind. We have undertaken a great deal of research in regard to consumers and marine tourism. What we found is that most visitors and consumers come to the sea from the land. They do not sail to the shore but are on land and travel to the coast to go surfing, kayaking, snorkelling and engage in other marine activities. If we are to get people into the Wild Atlantic Way and motivate them to get out of the cities for their five days, critical to this will be alerting them to what they can do there that is unique. We need to try to build not only a stay in a particular place, but an experience of a place where people can immerse themselves in that place, learn to snorkel or kayak and stay in a hotel, go out for an evening, have a few drinks and listen to some Irish music. A whole range of things add up to an experience. One thing on its own will not work. That is the potential for West Cork. It can pull all of these elements together, namely, accommodation, food, entertainment and natural heritage and the ocean. The trick is to get all of these things into one package so that the consumer when in west Cork rather than choosing to stay in the city will opt for the package which will keep him or her busy for five days and so on. That is where we have to get to.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

I, too, would like to contribute to that question. Coming from west Clare, I have a deep understanding of the issue highlighted by Deputy Harrington. On the Deputy's question of how the State can help, we are very weak on regional tourism statistics. The national statistics provided last week cannot be readily translated into performance in the regions. The metrics we have used down through the years for performance in the regions have not been as robust as we require them to be. In fairness, the Central Statistics Office has made huge leaps in terms of bringing its data up to date nationally. While regional data collection has never been part of its remit, it could become so.

There is a statistic widely used internationally entitled the "tourism satellite account". It provides one with the information nationally. Tourism does not appear in the national accounts. As such, we would not be widely au fait nationally with what tourism contributes to the economy. A national account could be created. For example, Denmark undertakes a tourism satellite account every five years. That is a modest ask and is something which we as a federation are calling for. This would mean that county councils and local communities such as Deputy Harrington's could then put in place a plan based on real figures. This should be considered nationally. What does not get measured does not get managed. That is critical.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will now take questions from members starting with Deputy Ann Phelan, followed by Deputy McLellan.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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We could talk all day about tourism. I come from the Carlow-Kilkenny region. Tourism is vital to the economy of Kilkenny and Carlow. I congratulate the local authorities in Kilkenny and Carlow who do great work in promoting both areas. Carlow is doing a really good job in trying to up its game in this area. I think it is safe to conclude at this point that The Gathering has been successful. I hope there will be a follow on from it.

While I do not mean to be critical, it seems to me that during the Celtic tiger years we all took our foot off the pedal in terms of tourism. I am interested in the urban-rural divide. I believe some of the large towns have a siege mentality in that the focus is on keeping people in the towns once there and on not telling them what exists in rural areas. I live in Graiguenamanagh, which is a place of natural beauty. I am always amazed at the low cost facilities available there. One can walk the towpath from Dublin to New Ross and meet very few people along the way, which means people are not being told about this free facility. It costs nothing to walk up and down by the river.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for their very informative presentations. Some of the points I had intended to raise have been covered so I will deal with the ones that have not yet been raised.

The Gathering has been very positive. It has been rolled out in many communities around the country. In fact, almost every community has taken part in it. However, Ireland has a very low rate of tourists and visitors returning to this country. Will The Gathering impact on this in a positive way and what steps are being taken to ensure people who come here for The Gathering will return at a future date? There is a big commemoration next year of the Battle of Clontarf as it will be 1,000 years since it took place. What is being done to market this and to target the Scandinavian countries in particular?

What is the average duration of visits to Ireland? Does it compare positively or negatively with the rate in other European countries? Has there been any effort to use the Irish language as a tool to draw people to Ireland in terms of language tourism and visits to the Gaeltacht? I believe this is a substantial tool but we have not fully harnessed the potential of language tourism.

The presentation from Tourism Ireland outlined some very positive aspects of the Irish tourism industry over the past 12 months, but the British market remains sluggish. Following the visit of Queen Elizabeth last year we were led to believe that the number of tourists from Britain would increase hugely this year. Will the witness comment on that? Derry is the City of Culture this year and obviously that is a significant event for the north west and Derry city in particular. Has Tourism Ireland discerned much of a benefit in the region in respect of the number of tourists attracted in the past 12 months?

Clearly, there is an overlap between Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. How do they avoid duplication in carrying out their duties?

Finally, I wish to comment on the JLC system. Without the JLC system unscrupulous employers could reduce pay to the bare minimum legal limits in the current climate. The wage rates for JLC workers are quite low, for example, the top rate of pay for a worker covered by the retail JLC prior to it being struck down was €9.66 per hour. A worker at the top JLC retail rate working a 35 hour week would earn just €17,500 per year. Despite the legally binding nature of the JLC or registered employment agreements, REA, there are employers who did not comply with them. According to the National Employment Rights Authority 2009 report more than 70% of employers in three of the largest sectors under these agreements were in breach of their statutory obligations.

Nonetheless, employers' organisations are intent on driving down the wages in this sector to even lower levels. They are seeking the abolition of the REAs and JLCs. They argue that the wage rates are too high, are negatively impacting on our competitiveness and holding back job growth. They also argue that many businesses are struggling to meet wage bills and should have an inability to pay clause. Many employers do not pay JLC or REA rates, which are not particularly high in any case. Employers have argued that the minimum wage and the JLC and REA rates are high by European standards, but this is simply not true. By comparison with England and when adjusted for purchasing power, the English rate is higher at €7.28 compared with the Irish rate of €6.28. The business lobby groups have failed to produce evidence to support their claim that the JLC system affects job creation.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate all involved in The Gathering. We have seen what has happened throughout our country and the number of people from the diaspora who have returned and will return during the rest of the year. I see it as a magnet for future tourism. People who have come to this country perhaps for the first time or people coming back will leave and spread the good news about what we have to offer. We do not have the sun and the sand, but we have the sea. As has been said, we also have our heritage, culture, uniqueness, people and our song. We have a great deal to offer the discerning visitor to our country, so I congratulate all concerned.

I also pay tribute to the community and voluntary organisations throughout the country who have played a significant part. Without their contribution we might not have been as successful in organising events and so forth.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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If Senator Brennan spent only one day at the golf, he obviously did not make the cut. He was in good company because Rory McIlroy did not make it either.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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If I had played, I might have posted a better score than some.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I understand Deputy Ann Phelan wants to make a further point.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Yes, it came to me on foot of something Senator Brennan said. I am not sure whether I have the correct figures but I think Scotland attracts five times more overseas visitors than Ireland. Given that the two countries have similar climates, nice landscapes, etc., why do more people tend to visit Scotland? Why do they not make the next leg of the journey and visit Ireland? Why do they choose Scotland over Ireland as a destination, particularly in view of the similarities between the two countries?

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Earlier, Deputy Ann Phelan referred to the bed and breakfast and guesthouse sector. I would be interested in hearing our guests' views on the negative effect of the reduction in the cost of hotel rooms on that sector.

Mr. Shaun Quinn:

There is no doubt the bed and breakfast sector is under pressure. There are a number of reasons for this. Ireland has some of the most competitive hotel stock in Europe - which is a plus - but this can have a knock-on effect on other competing sectors. We also know that many people entered the sector for other reasons at the time, including to increase their incomes. There is a rate of attrition in the sector at present because people are either leaving it or retiring and new entrants are not necessarily coming in. It is a very important aspect our product. It is part of our unique selling point, particularly as not all countries have such a sector. Not every tourist stays every night in a bed and breakfast but it can be part of his or her itinerary. From our perspective it is important that the sector is nurtured and encouraged to expand. We spend a great deal of time and resources working with those in the sector. The one positive I would take from the presentations made to the committee this morning is that the primary markets for the bed and breakfast sector are continental Europe and North America. These markets are growing and the sector is no longer as dependent on the home market or the bridge market, which are soft. The markets for the sector are turning and we are hoping to receive a lift in that regard.

Reference was made to repeating the mistakes of the past by investing in new hotels. Internally, we discuss the concepts of primary demand and derived demand. In the context of primary demand, people come here for a reason. They come here for the experience and to visit the various attractions. They do not come here to sleep or to eat. Looking back, I accept that the industry may have placed too much emphasis on derived demand as opposed to primary demand. The point we are making is that, going forward, greater emphasis must be placed on the reasons people should visit Ireland in the first instance as opposed to the necessary things they need to do when they arrive here.

We have responsibility in respect of the home market. The point made in this regard is very important and we did not cover it. Irish people take a total of approximately 8 million holiday trips in Ireland. That almost equates to the number taken by tourists from overseas. In terms of volume, they are important. They might not spend as much as those from abroad but they are important. If fewer Irish people take holidays abroad and instead remain at home, this constitutes a form of import substitution. Again, this is important. We put in place a year-long programme each year. This programme includes Northern Ireland, which we target explicitly in order to attract tourists. The programme probably has been more aggressive this year than has been the case in previous years. This is a recognition of the value which is to be had in the industry.

In the context of the VAT reduction, I very much support the sentiment to the effect that the case in this regard must be evidence-based. I completely agree with that. We are conducting some analysis ourselves in this regard at present. It has been of extraordinary benefit to the trade and I am sure the Irish Hotels Federation would support that view.

Deputy McLellan referred to duplication. In the interests of saving time earlier, I decided not to outline either our functions or what we do. However, the latter is very clear. Fáilte Ireland is a development authority which is primarily concerned with the tourism product in the context of the provision of services, building capacity and training people in the industry. We do not engage in international marketing, which is the job of Tourism Ireland. There is no duplication and our roles are very clear. I can understand, however, that the position can appear confusing from an outside perspective.

Mr. Aidan Pender:

The issue relating to interplay between the hotel and the guesthouse and bed and breakfast sectors can be quite complex. For example, overseas consumers might not be clear about the difference between a hotel and a guesthouse. In other words, terminology can get in the way. A number of interesting aspects arise in the context of the bed and breakfast sector. The value available in the hotel sector has had an impact on the bed and breakfast sector. However, it has also prompted some soul-searching among those in the latter sector in the context of identifying their niche in order that they might compete. We have done a great deal of work with the bed and breakfast sector in the past four years. This was prompted, in no small part, by the excess stock. The latter has encouraged other sectors to consider how they might survive the difficult years while the position relating to accommodation is adjusting and while a measure of equilibrium is being restored. It is interesting that in response bed and breakfast establishments are marketing themselves as an Irish home or Irish family experience. There is a difference between saying a person can avail of bed and breakfast and obtain an Irish family experience.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to hear we are competing with Kerry.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Is it possible to circulate some information on the EDEN initiative?

Mr. Aidan Pender:

Yes, absolutely. I can do that.

Mr. Peter Nash:

I will respond to some of the interesting questions raised. The bed and breakfast question came up. We promote Ireland on the basis of the wonderful experiences that one can have here. The bed and breakfast experience is a quintessential Irish experience. The beauty about the bed and breakfast stay as an Irish experience is that it is available in all parts of Ireland. We believe that by promoting the experience we are actually promoting the regions of Ireland and getting people to consider all parts of the island.

A comment was made about Scotland. Our experience is that in most countries where we market Ireland as a destination we are competing head-to-head with Scotland. However, our view is that we have a different experience to offer. We believe there is a warmth in the experience that a visitor can have in Ireland. The two landscapes are not altogether dissimilar. Therefore, it is the warmth of experience that the visitor can have in Ireland and the engagement with the warm and curious people of Ireland that are the points of differentiation. Given that we have 5 million people on our side in that battle, so to speak, we believe we will win it in the medium to long term.

Deputy McLellan asked some specific questions. A visitor coming to Ireland stays here on average for seven days. That includes the average person from Britain, who stays approximately four days. Otherwise, essentially, the further a person travels, the more likely he is to stay longer. People from Australia will say an average of approximately 14 days and people from the United States stay somewhere in between the two.

Deputy McLellan made an observation about repeat visitors. We enjoy a reasonable level of repeat visitation. We live in a world of social media and recommendation. We not only want people to think about coming back to us again but we also want them to tell their friends about the wonderful experiences they had. We know that our promotion is valuable in terms of getting people to consider Ireland as a destination. However, what is even more influential is their friends telling them to visit the island of Ireland. One of the parts of the world in which are quite active is Scandinavia, which I referred to already. Sweden is one of our priority markets within Scandinavia.

Underneath all of this and what drives the success and effectiveness of Ireland as a destination that is competing with 200 other destinations is the quality of the communities into which these visitors come and the experiences they receive in these communities. We thank the communities for providing that experience. It is important that these communities continue to have, for example, a vibrant sporting scene, a vibrant pub scene and vibrant accommodation which, all in all, create a wonderful experience. My colleague, Ms MacLaverty, is directly responsible for marketing in Scandinavia and she may wish to comment further.

Ms Monica MacLaverty:

We have worked good deal on access in the Scandinavian market. Some 89% of Scandinavians who come to Ireland come to Dublin and stay in Dublin. It is a short-break market. We have had several successes with Norwegian Air, Aer Lingus, Ryanair and SAS, which has extended its capacity. The Viking heritage is very important. We have worked on that aspect this year with The Gathering, through Waterford, and we have created several Viking gatherings. Next year will see the celebration of 1014 and the Battle of Clontarf and that will be prominent in our marketing activities.

Then, without wishing to repeat what has been said already, there has been great innovation in the bed and breakfast sector. There is a category for searching ancestry which has been very popular this year, the year of The Gathering.

Reference was made to some of the local festivals in Carlow and Kilkenny. We ran specific campaigns for the Carlow arts festival and the Kilkenny cat laughs festival. As a result, the searches for hotel accommodation in Kilkenny from overseas visitors during that month grew by 141%. That is making its mark.

A point was made about the Irish language. It is a niche but we have been doing a promotion this year with Hibernian College, which has set up a free education module in the Irish language. We have rolled that out to all our markets overseas and to all the travel agency networks. It is a fun initiative to encourage people to have the cúpla focal and it has been very popular.

Mr. Tim Fenn:

Deputy Phelan raised the issue of VAT. VAT has been a real shot in the arm for our industry. Some 90% of our members have said that it has made a significant impact on their business and 40% tell us that it will lead to increased employment in the current year, which is wonderful news. We are preparing detailed economic arguments for the retention of the VAT arrangement into next year. We believe and hope that when we show those arguments they will be strong and they will also show the cost. The figure mentioned was €350 million. The cost was nothing like that, but we cannot say that yet.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

I wish to talk about craft training and education. One of the great difficulties we have had in the sector is making a real impact on the long-term employment situation. While we have created employment, we have not created employment that we believe we could have certainly in the hotel sector. The Government has created various employment initiatives, including Momentum, Springboard and JobBridge. Increasingly these have focused on ICT and the knowledge economy. We are forgetting that in the heartland of Ireland and out in more remote areas these types of employment often cannot be created and tourism is an area that can jump in and provide work. Youth unemployment is a huge problem in Europe as it is here in Ireland.

We find that we cannot get the type of vocational training that would be needed particularly with organisations such as the VECs. The VECs have a tremendous possibility now and we are very excited about the creation of the local employment and training boards. However, there has been no investment in, for instance, culinary training. They cover that to a certain extent but not to the level we need. Some of those are structural issues. Not every VEC will do this. We are preparing a document to be presented to Government shortly to make a positive impact on this. We need SOLAS to include hospitality and tourism training within its remit. When programmes are being devised the industry needs to be involved.

We had a pilot programme in Galway where we found the modus operandi of the Department of Social Protection in providing suitable individuals for the training programme was not what we expected and the outcome was not as good as it should have been if there had been real co-operation with employers. We will bring a plan to Government outlining some structural issues that need to be changed. We believe the VECs and vocational training represent the way forward. Not everybody will get a degree and our industry produces the entry into employment and gives people the confidence they need. Young people get this confidence in dealing with other people and get the skills from us.

We want to see apprenticeships reintroduced for our industry as well as for other industries because, as Mr. Pender has said, young people want to earn and learn. We believe we can provide that. We will reduce our dependency on foreign nationals working in the industry if we can create more vocational and craft training.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There was mention of linking tourists to local sporting and cultural events. If I go to Barcelona, I like to see if there is a match on in the Camp Nou. Have there been any negotiations with sporting organisations to link in with the regional side of tourism? If there is a match in Cork or Nowlan Park in Kilkenny-----

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Saturday night will be very important.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Obviously the match between Kilkenny and Tipperary will attract a full house. However, in other matches around the country there may be 10,000 or 15,000 empty seats. While the GAA might not go along with it, it would be worth exploring. If holidaymakers are staying in hotels in the area perhaps that could be linked to filling some of those extra 10,000 seats, benefiting hotels and guesthouses, benefiting the GAA, soccer or whatever it is by getting more bums on seats. Has that been explored in any way?

There is great potential that I often see at local level. For instance Croke Park has increased its visitor numbers with the museum and the skyline tour, but it is not on the hop-on hop-off bus tours. When one's back is to the wall, there is a lot that could be done. Have any of those things been explored?

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I can assure the Vice Chairman that there will be no empty seats in Nowlan Park on Saturday night.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of that.

Mr. Aidan Pender:

The Vice Chairman touches upon a core issue for us in Fáilte Ireland working on the supply side of tourism. We are trying to support tourism product and refresh it and enable access to the Irish tourism product. If we focus on the core expectation of the visitor which is to have a unique Irish authentic experience, one cannot stray too far away from the GAA, the Irish language, our heritage, our folklore, logainmneacha and other things that are uniquely Irish. We have not explored that sufficiently.

We are in discussions with the authorities in Croke Park on the skyline tour, stadium tour, etc. It is unfortunate that the two companies doing the hop-on hop-off tours, Dualway and Dublin Bus, have not managed to get across to the north side of Dublin to Croke Park, Glasnevin Cemetery and other Office of Public Works sites. There is a cluster of important attractions of which we could make more. We are discussing that with Croke Park and the tour bus companies.

However, the real opportunity we are missing is at local club level. The Vice Chairman mentioned the Camp Nou. Much of the time we focus on Croke Park. Many visitors from Britain, France or Germany will have a 60,000 or 70,000-seat stadium in their region and so that might not be the thing. However, some of these countries might not experience anything like 500 people around a hurling pitch on a summer's evening where two local parishes are playing each other. That involves the following: the intensity, passion, emotion and skill of the game; the local sense of community and all that goes with that; being brought up for the tea, sandwiches and a few drinks afterwards; and the Irish music and entertainment. This is Irish music being played by Irish people for Irish people as opposed to just for tourists allowing them to be part of something that is really Irish.

That is a huge challenge. Our interest in the GAA is to see how we can connect people who happen to be in County Clare to find that action, which is there on their doorstep. It is a great example of product bundling or packaging. A bed and breakfast can be packaged with a local restaurant, hotel or GAA club, fishing or some folklore. If we could get better at that, the local GAA clubs would be a crucial part of what we package together. Summer evenings around Ireland and GAA pitches around the west coast of Ireland represent an enormous potential that we have not yet tapped.

Mr. Michael Vaughan:

We have experience in the hotels in Limerick city where this type of collaboration has occurred. It was with the Munster Rugby code not the GAA code but it has been tremendously important and the idea that people would come just for that type of sporting cultural package is there to be acted on. The IHF and its network would be very supportive of what Mr. Pender is talking about.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We have had an exhaustive, stimulating and interesting presentation. There is a great deal of food for thought. Will the witnesses forward the statistics requested by members to the clerk to the committee who will then distribute them? That would be helpful. With the Gathering and the tourism season in full flight, I wish everyone well in promoting the industry in the interests of the country in the months ahead. I thank everyone.