Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 47: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the progress made on the culture and tourism initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8623/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome that the Minister is having those meetings because I believe a large part of the future of tourism lies in the cultural area as all the research indicates. I was surprised that so many bodies were involved which makes me wonder whether this area is so fragmented that it is inefficient. In addition I was surprised at the omission of others who would have had a big input into that, for example tour operators, who are out selling Ireland on their own behalf and obviously are bringing visitors home. The other big player missing — maybe the newspapers failed to report it — was the OPW, which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of our heritage sites and attractions.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

And operating them.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have previously raised the role of the OPW with the Minister. It must recognise that we are all in this together and that these facilities must be made available. One of my colleagues recently went to visit Kilmainham with a bus load of people and was told — owing to the cutbacks I presume — that they would need to wait an hour and a half for a tour with the result that 40 people got back on a bus. The entrance fee was lost and whatever else they were selling was lost, and a bad impression was gained. There is no sense in investing in these facilities and then not letting people in to see them and making the most of every opportunity to get money out of them.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I agree with the Deputy and I would be very regretful about such incidents. I have no reason to disbelieve her that that was the experience of those people. I do not know why it happened. I do not know whether it was a one-off incident for some specific reason. However, I take the point. If we are to be serious these things need to be in place for seven days a week in a seamless way. They need to be open on public holidays, which is when people want to be there. The Deputy is right in identifying this as a big part of our tourism product. More than €3 million of our €8 million went specifically towards cultural tourism. Some 60% came from abroad, which is the right mix. There are more coming in and that will probably even increase. Some 40% came from the island of Ireland.

I have spoken at length on the issue of opening times. Private sector businesses would be open because they are trying to make money to survive and pay their staff. They want to provide a good product. That is recognised. There was very substantial improvement in recent times on the way things were run up to a few years ago which was almost on a five-day week closing at 5 o'clock basis, which was utterly unacceptable. We now need to get to the next level and be fully open at the times people expect, as we expect when we go abroad. We expect to be able to walk into a museum or cultural institution and would be surprised if it was closed. The same applies to people coming here.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As a former Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, the Minister has first hand experience. What is the possibility of having many of these facilities opened throughout the year and not just on a seasonal basis? Tourism does not start on 17 March and finish in September or October. It is critical to have all the available facilities open throughout the year, not only for visitors coming from abroad but also to help develop our own sector.

On the heritage side of things, much work has been done by the OPW under various Governments throughout the years in developing facilities like Kilmainham, Newgrange and so forth. There are many others, including in my part of the country, the historic capital of Connacht, that have not been utilised and developed to their full potential. What is the feasibility of these? While I understand the difficult financial circumstances, if we are going to develop new products, there is huge potential in regard to heritage sites that have not been fully developed and made available to the public.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is not specifically the Minister's responsibility but I am sure it overlaps.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is right that the aim should be that every facility should be open 12 months of the year. We would all accept there may be some smaller facilities where it would not be realistic to achieve that, but the aim should be to achieve it. A substantial number of projects, large and small, have been identified throughout the country to enhance the product. A number of those are in State ownership, which would make them the direct responsibility of the Office of Public Works. To be fair to the OPW, it has not been slow about working up the plans.

I will not deny there is a current difficulty with the budgetary position with regard to implementing some of those proposals but, nevertheless, my attitude is that we would keep pushing ahead. If we need to go to planning, or whatever we need to do, let us keep doing what we are doing and prime pump everything. Some money will be spent so it is not a case of none being spent. Even from the tourism side, the product development fund is still there, and while it is not as big as we might like it to be, it is helping projects to develop.

The Deputy is correct that because we market Ireland with an island-of-Ireland approach, we need to have that necklace of regional activity so that people who come into Northern Ireland can also visit the mid-west, and those who come into the south-east can also visit the North and see the attractions of the whole island.

Deputy Olivia Mitchell rightly raised the point that there are a number of good bodies which operate under broad umbrellas, such as the Town and Country Homes Association, the Irish Georgian Society and specialist mansions. While they are all well-meaning and do good work, none of them on their own can market internationally in the way they should. There should be an overall branding so we can put all the resources into one marketing campaign, and these bodies can exist underneath the surface. It is not feasible and it is poor organisation to maximise the cost of trying to bring a global image worldwide by marketing all of those bodies. It is possible to do this, not by spending more money but simply by using what is in all the little pots and putting it together. The sum of all the parts will create much more than having these bodies operate individually. In particularly tight times, every penny must be maximised. This is how some of that will be done and more of it can be done.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

While the OPW is not the Minister's direct responsibility, tourism is. I understand the OPW gets a budget to run its facility, pay guides and so on but it does not retain whatever income it takes in at the door so there is no incentive for the sites to either stay open even for the month of April, never mind a full year, or to open late. Will the Minister have discussions with the Minister of Finance to ensure the money the OPW takes in stays there in order to pay the guides and keep the sites open and available to visitors when they want to see the facilities?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am sure it would be the Deputy's experience, and it certainly would be mine, that the people one meets at the sites are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about what they are doing.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Not enough people are meeting them.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

If the Deputy is suggesting there should be a further ownership incentive in terms of reward for the activities they undertake, I would not disagree with her. That is why, to some degree, there might be better structures working in the private sector. I do not know the possibilities of this. I can mention it to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works.

The Deputy is correct in the fundamental point that close co-operation is vital to maximise all the activity. As she said almost in exasperation at the beginning, and I can empathise with her, there are so many bodies we wonder at times are we doing the right thing. It is clear there is much enthusiasm but we could maximise the benefit much more than we are doing.

The value to Ireland of the awards that are being won internationally, be it by actors, museums or otherwise, is incredible. We could not buy the coverage this gives to the country in terms of promoting Ireland as a first-class tourism destination. Our cultural institutions contain people who operate in the broad cultural areas, such as drama, the visual arts and so on, and they are invaluable in delivering tourists into this country. We must recognise and sustain that.