Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State for this important debate. I also thank the Minister for his important speech which outlined the current state of the tourism sector, as well as its future prospects. I welcome the review of tourism policy which the Minister announced last week. Such a review is timely, given the economic growth of the past ten years and the fact that we now find ourselves at a crossroads with some decline in evidence. The forthcoming review requires the greatest level of input concerning policy. Without that, we will not have a period of sustained growth as in the past. It is important that we bring together the different elements of the tourism sector to a point where we will go forward with a policy that will help to improve the whole tourism sector.

As has already been mentioned, this country had ten years of successive growth in the tourism industry until 2001, when we experienced a drop in tourist numbers of between 5% to 10%. This decline has been explained by a number of factors. My colleagues have mentioned them and the Minister alluded to them in his speech. The foot and mouth disease crisis was certainly one factor from which all areas suffered, particularly as it affected tourists from European and from Britain, one of our biggest areas for inward tourism.

September 11 had a big effect on our tourism, but it may have been overplayed in some areas and in some industries, particularly in the aviation sector about which I will talk later. It was not as big an issue with the American tourists as it was with some of their airlines.

While it is clear that the industry throughout the country is suffering, it may surprise Members to learn that some areas are being affected more than others. I am glad that the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, is here. Coming from County Clare as I do, she will be very familiar with the fact that in 2001 overseas tourist revenue in the eastern region, which consists of Dublin, the midlands, the east and the south-east, actually increased by over 25%. In contrast, the western region, which consists of the north-west, the west, the south-west and the mid-west, including the Shannon region, recorded a drop in overseas tourist revenue of some 4%. This contrast in numbers is certainly something which needs to feed into the tourism review being undertaken by the Minister. He needs to put in place the necessary mechanism to address this because we all talk about balanced regional development and the tourism sector is one area which plays a key role in that regard in terms of inward investment into those regions. If we succeed in putting in place the measures that will allow for a greater influx of tourists into those particular regions along the western corridor to which I referred, it will assist in the future development of those regions.

This loss of overseas revenue was partially offset by a strong increase in home holiday business in the western regions but were it not for this fact, the area would have suffered a large number of job losses as a result of the downturn in business. We cannot have any more job losses in the western region. With the difficult economic position, there is obviously a likelihood of such losses but it is important that anything that can be done at this stage is done to assist us.