Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

According to the latest Central Statistics Office figures, spending by visitors to Ireland increased by 4.5% last year to €3.68 billion.  For holidaymakers, expenditure increased by 10% from North America and by 11% from other long-haul areas.  For mainland Europe, where holidaymaker expenditure grew by 3% overall, spending by German holidaymakers grew by an impressive 19%.

I agree that Ireland’s environment and culture are key tourism assets.  Our beautiful landscapes and rich heritage feature strongly in promotion of Ireland overseas by Tourism Ireland and its agency and industry partners, and we are also highlighting our cultural profile through the range of events taking place within The Gathering Ireland 2013. I must disagree, however, that Ireland ranked poorly in the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013.  Out of 140 countries, Ireland was placed in 19th position and scored well under pillars such as "Policy Rules and Regulations" - fourth place; "Human Resources" - 11th place; "Tourism Infrastructure" - 12th place; and "Safety and Security - 12th place.

Our ranking of 29th under the heading of "Cultural Resources" reflects the fact that we have only two world heritage cultural sites. Under "Natural Resources", the World Economic Forum ranks Ireland 11th for our natural environment but our overall ranking is reduced by factors such as "Total Known Species", simply because of being an island.  Nonetheless, Ireland ranks ninth overall under "Environmental Sustainability", scoring well for the strength of our environmental regulation.

The World Economic Forum report, like any attempt to compare every country in the world on the same basis, is not infallible.  However, it provides a useful tool to appraise the overall competitive position of Irish tourism and my Department and the tourism agencies will continue to use it to help identify strengths to promote and weaknesses to address in growing Irish tourism sustainably.

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