Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have seen a dramatic increase in tourism figures in recent years and every year we seem to be setting new records. Tourism is big business in Ireland. In 2017, overseas visitors generated approximately €4.9 billion and domestic tourism was worth an additional €1.9 billion. These figures are enormous, and while hotel chains and other large operators are making large profits, tourism is also the lifeblood of a large number of small businesses across the State. Tourism keeps businesses and communities going in parts of the country that would otherwise have very few economic opportunities. However, the industry needs to improve in terms of balancing the benefits of tourism to avoid oversaturation in some areas and encourage tourism in places that have been left behind.

We also need to look at our measures of success. Is the measure of success bringing the maximum number of bodies into the country? Do we care who they are, where they stay, how they travel or what they do here? We have seen the detrimental effects of over-tourism in places like Barcelona and Venice, which are seeing an anti-tourist backlash from frustrated locals who are experiencing a crisis in the cost of living. These cities have become parodies of themselves and are completely overrun with tourists. In Venice in particular, most of the tourists are low-spending day trippers. The Minister should be aware that there is a danger of this happening in tourist areas in the west, where buses bring hundreds of thousands of tourists from Dublin every year for very short trips to major tourist attractions. The result is that large numbers of tourists are visiting but they are not staying in the area, exploring anywhere outside the main tourist traps or spending in the locality. Small rural communities are not seeing the benefit of these tourist visits at all.

Decades of poor regional development means that many rural areas are suffering from a lack of basic services like local public transport and broadband, which means that they have little in the way of economic opportunities. In some regions, towns are almost completely reliant on summer tourism for their economic survival. This is obviously a dangerous situation, as we saw during the crash when tourism figures plummeted, with disastrous consequences. Other areas are ripe for development and have outstanding scenery and heritage, but because of the lack of development, tourists are either not visiting or are merely travelling through, with no benefit whatsoever to local communities. The boom and bust cycle in tourism in recent years shows us why the Government needs to pay attention to areas that rely heavily on tourism to sustain themselves. It also demonstrates the need for the Government to support the industry in achieving sustainable levels of tourism. We need to develop areas that have potential but little or no tourist trade at present but we need to do so in a way that preserves the natural beauty of unspoilt areas and is environmentally sustainable. Ireland is a beautiful country. Our landscape is one of the biggest draws for tourists but we need to improve radically our attitude to preserving the environment.

Ireland has a dreadful reputation among international experts with regard to our green credentials. The Government ought to be ashamed of its record. We are failing to meet our emissions targets and this will also have dire consequences. We are known as a green country but there is nothing green about how we treat our climate change and environmental obligations.

Tourism also needs to be socially sustainable. The recent surge in visitor numbers shows up the lack of hotel rooms in Dublin. The response to this was to try to build hotels in the capital in a panic at a time when more than 10,000 people are homeless. We need to take a long-term approach to planning our cities. It is a long-standing issue that Dublin is reaping a disproportionate amount of the benefits of tourism. A good job has been done in marketing existing amenities and experiences such as the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East. I refer to the Boyne Valley in particular. However, there is no meaningful, targeted emphasis put on places such as Louth and the Boyne Valley region that would provide real benefit to the locality and small local businesses. My town of Drogheda is an historic jewel in the county but it has not seen the investment needed to help it to reach its potential as a tourist town. We have so much to offer but we have lacked investment not only in the town itself, but in marketing and promoting it.

These areas have fantastic potential for tourism but it is just not being developed. Such development would mean significant infrastructure, including transport infrastructure to ensure that people can easily travel to more out of the way areas in tourist spots. I do not know how many times when travelling the country I have asked myself how tourists cope. How do they ever arrive at their destination with the road signage that is in place? If the Minister of State only targets one issue in the next 12 months it should be that.

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