Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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I welcome the delegates who have certainly been very informative. We have heard some excellent presentations on the tourism products available in counties Mayo and Leitrim, in particular.

We all can learn something from what the group is doing. It is innovative. There is a co-ordination of the various stakeholders. They are maximising their product.

I note their statistics regarding the 3.5 million diaspora in North America. The other matter there would be regarding the marketing. The marketing is certainly functioning well, with modern technology such as Facebook and websites. Mr. Hynes remarked about the personal touch in tandem with that. In Kerry, a number of years ago there was a marketing focus on trade fairs in the cities in Britain, in particular, in England, where Bord Fáilte and Killarney Town Council sent members to promote their product for the county, in particular, for Killarney and the Ring of Kerry. That has stopped. It has been said to me by those involved that there has been a significant loss in the personal meeting of these persons to sell what they have because there is a dramatic reduction in the amount of British tourists coming into the country. Hopefully, tourism has been getting a bit of a lift from British tourists this year with The Gathering. One factor in it is that they are on our doorstep. They are so near. We probably need to change our tools of trade or marketing. I also note the World Expo in Milan and we should not miss out on such a prominent trade fair. Based on the Mayo people in America, what about the millions of Irish diaspora in Britain who, if one brought it down to a county level, also number in the millions for each county?

My other point is that it appears we are neglecting the German market. The Germans do not seem to be visiting us now. Over 20 millions Germans travel abroad every year and we are only getting 1% of that market. The Germans also are so near and they are interested in Irish culture, music and heritage. We also need to build on that.