Mr. Niall Gibbons:

I do no intend to read the whole statement as some of the points have been well made. The year before Covid, 2019, was a record year for overseas tourism. We saw 11.3 million visitors come to the island of Ireland. They spent €5.9 billion and contributed to the employment of 325,000 people across the entire island. This year we have seen a strong rebound as we seek to rebuild tourism with a strong international marketing campaign. According to tourism economics, tourism numbers to the island of Ireland are forecast to return to 2019 levels by 2025. By 2032, tourism numbers will outperform 2019 by 36%.

We are seeing strong results in airports such as Dublin and Cork in the first months of this year. A strong restoration of direct air access capacity to the island of Ireland is scheduled for the upcoming summer season, with June forecast to be 102% of what it was in June 2019. We can see that overseas demand for holidays this summer is strong. There is certainly optimism for the long-term health of overseas tourism. However, there are also some challenges, which have also been articulated. They include a significant reduction in the stock of available tourism accommodation with many hotels now contracted to accommodate people fleeing Ukraine and people seeking international protection from other parts of the world. Reduced supply, coupled with strong demand is likely to drive rising costs and prices. A deterioration in the perceived overseas competitiveness of Ireland in the face of higher prices and supply constraints is a real risk for Irish tourism. The impact of this reduction in accommodation on rural Ireland is greater than in urban areas. Beds being withdrawn in rural areas also impacts our ability to ensure sustainability is at the core of activity, as we aim to spread the benefits to our regions on a year-round basis. Reduced tourism activities in certain areas have knock-on effects for other local tourism businesses such as visitor attractions, gift shops, outdoor activity providers, restaurants and pubs. There is, therefore, a negative impact on local economies. There has been an impact on group tourist business, particularly from Great Britain, France and Germany, which are three of our top four markets. These groups typically stay along tourist spots such as the Wild Atlantic Way but given the concentrated geographic distribution of refugees along the Wild Atlantic Way, that has become an issue. One major Irish incoming tour operator reports that it is not including County Clare on its programmes for 2023.

As Mr. Kelly articulated, car hire supply is also an issue. We will continue to monitor the situation closely. We aim to rebuild revenue from overseas holidaymakers to pre-pandemic levels by attracting value added tourists, and by focusing on markets that deliver the greatest revenue. This will be achieved through a wide range of promotional activities, including major marketing campaigns, publicity, programming, social media and digital marketing, as well as working with the tourism industry at home and the travel trade overseas. This is a significant year for us, as we mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, of which Tourism Ireland is a product. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his earlier remarks. I am stepping down after 14 years as CEO and I thank the committee members for their support over the years.