John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister on his first visit as Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism. We have all had the privilege of dealing with him as a Minister. The Minister and I arrived to this House together on our first day as Members of the Oireachtas. We will not say how long ago it was.

The progress overall in the Irish tourism industry has been phenomenal during the past ten or 15 years. Prior to this, 15 or 20 years ago, Irish tourism consisted of a few English anglers and many first and second generation Americans coming to find their roots. This was the basis of our tourism.

At present, our tourism is probably more broadly based than tourism in any other country in the world. The Mediterranean countries sell sun tourism and nothing else. Irish tourism sells a number of products, some of them unique. We sell heritage products and other specialist products such as cruising. We have also moved into adventure holidays. These are areas mainly used by people with considerable disposable income. Most of the people going on sun holidays are on extremely low, tight budgets and are not in a position to make the enormous contribution to the economy made by many tourists coming here.

Proof of this is the development throughout the country during the past ten or 15 years of restaurants which are of the highest quality. They have helped to make a contribution not only towards providing jobs but also encouraging people to come to Ireland. The quality of the food in these restaurants, and of Irish food in general, is first class and cannot be surpassed.

We have also seen a major increase in the number of hotel beds available, particularly in Dublin city. We now have multiples of what was available ten years ago. Many of them are small hotels which provide a level of service one would not get in some of the five star hotels around the world. They provide excellent quality and value and should be supported. Many of them have been supported by means of tax breaks and other incentives and they have delivered to the State in terms of VAT and other revenues and in the number of jobs they have provided.

I refer to the first major tourism initiative in a long time. The Shannon-Erne waterway was opened in the early 1990s and at the time people said it would be a white elephant and it was given all the usual tags associated with such projects. However, it has proved to be an enormous success not only in building links North and South of the Border but because the number of boats using the waterway has increased each year. People might not be aware of this but there were 1,000 extra cruisers or boats on our waterways last year. The main problem will be finding accommodation for them in the off season. The people who avail of this tourism product have large disposable incomes. They spend money in the towns and villages in which they moor at night and make an enormous contribution to their economies.

I also compliment the Governments, North and South, on their decision in regard to the Ulster Canal. It will mean we will have a joined up waterway which is very important for the future development of our cruiser industry.

The Minister mentioned the national conference centre and it is imperative that it progresses. Like the outgoing Taoiseach, I regret we do not have a national stadium because if we had one, it would become another major tourist attraction. Senator Jerry Buttimer would probably prefer if it were located in Cork but we cannot have everything. It is a long way for me to travel to Cork. Dublin is at least more accessible.

The national conference centre will bring much business to Dublin and will result in maximum use of hotel beds. At present there is very high occupancy from Friday to Sunday but we need to increase occupancy from Sunday to Thursday. Much conference business is early to mid-week so the national conference centre will be of enormous benefit to this city.

We talk about access to this country for tourists. As far as tourism is concerned, the biggest thing to happen was low air fares. Lower air fares have made a greater contribution to people coming here than anything else. Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Aer Arann offer flights at a price which is very attractive to tourists to come here for short breaks. Much of our tourism business is short breaks. The world has changed so much that people no longer go on holidays for two to three weeks. The number of Irish people spending a lot of money on weekend breaks is increasing. That is very important when we look at our overall tourism product. I compliment Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Aer Arann on what they have done.

However, all this has not come about by accident. Tax breaks and grant incentives were put in place over the years which encouraged people to invest in tourism. Perhaps we should continue them but focus them on specific developments which would become national and international attractions rather than on some of the smaller projects, although I am not saying they should not be funded.

The best tourism marketing was done last year when the international rally came to the north west. Every hotel bed within a 50-mile radius of Sligo town was occupied for four or five days. People only began to realise what was available. The international groups were so impressed that they have decided to come in January 2009 for another round of the international rally, which is important. We should put in place a national rally team which would market our tourism industry around the world. We have put money into other projects but we should consider putting together a national rally team to sell Ireland everywhere a round of the international rally is held. I ask the Minister to consider that, although I compliment him and North West Tourism on the funding provided so far.

We do not get enough international publicity for many of the products we have to sell. Tourism will become more important because other sectors of our economy are finding it tough. International exchange rates are beginning to affect our tourism business. The strength of the euro vis-À-vis the US dollar and sterling is starting to cause problems for tourism operators. I hope we will be able to meet some of the shortfall in terms of the spending capability. I do not believe the State can make it up and tourism operators will be forced to become more competitive to stay in the market.

The outlook is very good. The increase in the number of visitors and in the amount of money they spend has been phenomenal. However, we must maintain the standard of the products we provide to tourists.

There is a regional imbalance in that the majority of tourists end up south of the line from Dublin to Galway. That is something we need to rectify. There is a historic reason for that but it no longer exists. The fact we will now promote tourism on an all-Ireland basis will make an enormous contribution. We should sell an all-island product rather than a North-South or an east-west one.

I have a couple of minor criticisms. Some heritage sites are not being promoted, although I do not wish to see them promoted to such an extent that they will be vandalised. Most heritage sites have reasonably good facilities but the smaller ones, which in some cases are more attractive to people going on heritage holidays than the larger ones, should be marketed on a county or a regional basis.

A considerable sum of money is being provided in the national development plan. However, the majority of the money must go into product development and promotion. Without that, we will not go anywhere. We must continue to promote the fact this is a green, clean island with fresh air. Perhaps there is a little too much water and rain at times but people do not come to Ireland for a sun holiday but for a holiday which is different. The Minister outlined how Ireland is classed as a friendly destination. We must maintain the standards, initiatives and incentives. If we do so, we will have a very bright future in tourism. We have put in place the infrastructure required to deliver sustainable jobs. It is important we have sustainable tourism and that people do not take one look at us and decide not to come back.