John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Every effort has been made to remind the industry of the need to offer value for money and the industry is responding. It remains a cause of concern that while the majority of visitors still say they really enjoyed their visit and would recommend Ireland to a friend, nonetheless, issues such as the cost of drink and eating out are still regarded as not giving value for money. The Department has made this point to the industry and it is responding.

Golf tourism is important to the country. In the last year for which figures are available, 2003, 133,000 visitors came to play golf and they generated a revenue of €126 million. A golf visitor is worth up to three times more than an ordinary visitor because they stay longer, an average stay being 13 nights and they go to several locations. Last year Ireland was voted the number one golf destination in the world. The country contains one third of the links championship courses in the world. I do not play golf but some would argue that the whole country is a golf course because more than 400 golf courses are affiliated, which is a record for the size of the population.

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