Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I met the Irish Tour Operators Association, ITOA, in early December and therefore am well aware of the operators' concerns. I also remain in contact with other key tourism representative bodies, such as the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation and the Irish Hotels Federation. Tourism, as is the case with other industries, is affected by the global economic situation. In 2008, tourism in Ireland and across the world encountered difficulties arising from the international downturn and pressures on the travel industry, such as fluctuating energy costs. For European destinations, these difficulties were exacerbated by the strength of the euro.

While final Central Statistics Office figures are not available, the most recent figures show a decline of 2.1% in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in the period up to the end of November. It is expected that for the year as a whole, the decline in numbers will be approximately 3% compared to 2007. Such outcome is a great compliment to all the tourism bodies, which have succeeded in avoiding a far deeper decline. When drawing comparisons with 2007, it is important to remember that the latter was a record year for Irish tourism in terms of overseas visitors and associated revenue. Overseas visitor numbers increased by 33% between 2001 and 2007. Although we undoubtedly are facing into a difficult period ahead, I believe the strategic approach taken to tourism development in recent years by both the public and private sectors has given the industry the capacity to deal with the cyclical external challenges and to sustain its performance in coming years.

The Government continues to review and renew the strategic framework for tourism development in response to the changing environment. This is the reason I established last December the tourism renewal group under the chairmanship of Mr. Maurice Pratt. That group is examining the current tourism policy and programme priorities. It will focus on the challenges facing the industry and will set out a framework for action to ensure that tourism continues to be a major industry for Ireland. The group is to complete its work in the mid-half of 2009.

In the meantime, an extensive range of marketing, product development, training and business supports are being initiated by the tourism State agencies under the tourism services budget of the Department. These supports are being modified to help the tourism industry deal with current problems. In this regard, I am aware that Fáilte Ireland has had meetings with the ITOA to discuss the difficulties its members are experiencing in the current economic climate. Through these meetings, actions have been identified to support Irish tour operators across a broad spectrum of activity, from product development to greater promotion in key markets. A follow up meeting between Fáilte Ireland and Irish tour operators is to be held shortly with a view to furthering a number of identified actions.

In conclusion, I wish to stress that while I am under no illusion about the scale of the difficulties we face, I am confident that the tourism sector here has the capacity to manage the current cyclical slowdown. Renewing our strategy will help the sector to manage the current challenges and to return to sustainable growth in the medium term.

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