Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Minister will agree that while visitor numbers have increased, the number of overnights has decreased with the average decreasing from 7.9 to seven per visitor. In view of the significant decline in the number of golfers coming from the USA which has been experienced in places such as Ballybunion and Waterville in our county, what initiatives are being taken by the Minister to reverse that trend? Golfers are high-spending tourists. What plans has the Minister to use the publicity and hype surrounding the Ryder Cup to entice American tourists to come back to Ireland to play golf on our courses? Has the Minister undertaken an analysis of the market to determine whether it is a matter of price?

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