Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

On 11 February I met the heads of 15 State tourism agencies, State arts bodies, and the cultural institutions to begin the work of further developing the cultural tourism market. This is the first step in implementing my undertaking to put in place an initiative to further develop the potential of cultural tourism.

This initiative will build, in the first instance, on co-operation and synergy between the bodies and institutions under the aegis of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. I wish to set in train a programme of specific actions that will enable Ireland to more effectively address the needs of overseas and domestic tourists who wish to experience Ireland's cultural and artistic resources.

At the meeting of 11 February, I asked the relevant agencies to take a number of specific measures that will enhance the availability of information on cultural attractions and events, both in marketing material and also the on-site provision of information. I have also established a network through which State agencies and institutions in the arts, culture and tourism spheres will interact with each other to identify and capitalise on opportunities to further develop Ireland as a destination for cultural tourism. A small steering group, drawn from a representative group of the heads of agencies and officials from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, has been established to identify specific actions to be undertaken in order to increase Ireland's attractiveness as a destination for cultural tourism.

The Government is committed to the development of niche cultural tourism markets, as outlined in the recently published Building Ireland's Smart Economy document. Cultural tourism is growing in importance internationally. It has been achieving average annual growth rates of 15% — three times the overall growth rate for tourism. It represents a third of all tourism business and is high yield. It is essential that Ireland positions itself as a premier destination for the many tourists for whom experiencing culture is an important component of their holiday. I am confident that the measures being taken will strengthen the arts and culture family and help the Irish tourism industry to address the current challenges and boost business in future years.

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