Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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68. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he sees opportunities to develop the tourism sector to maximise the promotion of Ireland as a conference location; his plans for this and for promoting activity tourism such as greenways and the utilisation of culture to develop the tourism sector further; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15623/16]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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This question raises the possibility of marketing this country as a conference location with obvious consequent benefits to the tourism sector.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Tourism continues to contribute significantly to Ireland's economic recovery. CSO figures for 2015 show there were over 8.6 million overseas visits to Ireland, an increase of 13.7% on 2014. Spending in Ireland by overseas visitors, excluding air fares or ferry charges, for 2015 increased by 18.6% compared to 2014.

Tourism Ireland informs me that overseas promotion activity to support sustainable growth is weighted towards those segments that provide the best return on marketing investment. In this regard, the Ireland brand is underpinned by the tourism brand experiences that have been developed by Fáilte Ireland, such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and Dublin - A Breath of Fresh Air, which are all designed to appeal to the most promising consumer segments in overseas source markets. All of the sectors mentioned by the Deputy, namely, business, activity and cultural tourism, present significant opportunities for promotion and development and are captured within the brand experiences.

In this regard, business tourism was worth in excess of €669 million to the Irish economy in 2015 and has increased by 35% since 2011. It accounts for 16% of overseas tourism spend in Ireland. The Government is continuing to invest in the activity tourism sector, to which the Deputy also referred, and there is provision in the multi-year capital investment programme for further expansion. Finally, cultural tourism is an intrinsic element of all the experience brands but it forms a major part of the appeal of Ireland's Ancient East, which has a particularly rich and diverse range of cultural heritage, and which extends into the Deputy's constituency, where the experiences include many sites with which the Deputy is familiar.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State and his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Ross, on their assumption to office. I wish to ask the Minister of State the extent to which he sees further potential for the development of the various sectors mentioned in the question, with particular reference to activity holidays, which seem to be an international craze at present, the degree to which there is room for growth in the conference sector of tourism and the extent to which the greenways referred to already can be incorporated into packages for use by those visiting the country for the purpose of a conference with obvious other potential in growing the industry.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. It is the first opportunity I have had to speak in the Dáil in my capacity as Minister of State since my appointment, and I thank the Taoiseach for having made the appointment.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, in his previous reply to a question referred to the development of greenways, to which Deputy Durkan refers. The Government is anxious to ensure that the use of capital investment through the smarter travel initiative be identified for these greenways. The Deputy is right that there is a number of challenges in the area of tourism development, none more so than in the Dublin region, namely, hotel availability, to which the Deputy referred from the point of view of conferencing. The Government is very conscious of this and we are actively considering the issue with a view to ensuring that we maximise the number of bed nights that can be achieved for business tourism and conferencing tourism so that people coming into the country, whether they are coming to the west, south or east, experience the maximum benefit for whatever their purpose. To that end, the development of the facilities to which the Deputy referred is a priority for the Government. The extension of the greenways and their use and accessibility is also a priority for the Government and a priority for Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, which are the agencies with responsibility for them.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. Might it be possible to make the relevant contacts with the various promotional bodies to ensure the maximisation of market opportunities in the various areas referred to?

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The last point the Deputy makes is very relevant. The Government is very conscious of the role that Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland play, and to that end I have, since coming into the Department, used every opportunity to find out formally and informally from Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland what are the challenges ahead. The Deputy has pointed out a number of challenges and he has a very clear knowledge of the issue from his constituency and the broader Leinster region. There are challenges in the industry, but this was one of the two industries, the other being agriculture, that helped to drag the country out of the economic mire in which we found ourselves. The Government therefore values the tourism industry. We are very eager to work with all of the stakeholders, driven by the State agencies and underpinned by the policy on which the Department and its officials rely. The Minister, Deputy Ross, and I are very conscious of this. That is why we have been very clear from the start, since we came into the Department, that this is an industry that we want to see continuing to develop and to supply real jobs in constituencies like Kildare North.