Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy has asked about three distinct issues. I agree, we would rather have the CSO figures on a monthly basis than on a quarterly basis because that would allow us to plan. The CSO has said it is not in a position to do that at the moment, but at least every time we get the figures they assist us in our targeted marketing. We now do our marketing on a seasonal basis rather than an annual basis so the quarterly figures are helpful.

On the question of what measures we are taking to promote tourism, we are targeting each of our four major markets in a different way. The World Travel Market last week was very successful and the agencies supporting the industry are very involved. This is a successful way of promoting tourism because the people involved are the best people to promote Ireland. We are also improving marketing through promotions such as television campaigns in Germany. These are critical. In Great Britain we are focusing on coach tour operators, retail travel agents and the Internet agencies. For example, at the World Travel Market I met people from Expedia through which many visitors book their trips. We also have an extensive marketing programme in North America and work with tour operators there on specific promotional activities. We do the same in France.

Investment in the capital programme is also important because people come to Ireland to attend iconic events. We try to ensure that special events like those I mentioned in my response, Imagine Ireland and Dublin Contemporary are part of our plan.

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