Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister back to the House to hear this debate. I listened closely to the contributions of the Minister and Senators. I agree with most speakers that tourism is one area that has huge potential, even in the difficult economic climate. Tourism is one area that can be recession-proof if, as previous speakers stated, people contribute in a positive way. However, they will need the assistance of the Government and I am interested to hear the comments of the Minister on the strategies the Government might have to grow tourism in the country.

One of the main areas where the Government can assist the regions is the facilitation of infrastructure to assist and promote tourism in areas such as access to the regions. We have regional airports. Rail links and even bus corridors are very important as they give tourists the opportunity not only to visit Dublin and the Pale but to get out to the regions where they will see the real Ireland and the attractions.

One area with huge potential, which has been mentioned by other speakers, is families holidaying at home. The tourism industry is targeting and promoting family short breaks. Will the Minister discuss with Fáilte Ireland promoting in the United Kingdom these short breaks here? Cities such as Manchester and Birmingham have huge populations and there is direct access through Waterford regional airport to Waterford and the south-east region. There should be marketing campaigns in these cities to offer short breaks that are good value for money and promote the tourism product in this country. Ireland needs to go back to playing to its strengths. Traditional bed and breakfasts and country farmhouses have lost ground in the last few years to the bland hotels that have been sprouting up around the place. I had the pleasure of visiting a country farmhouse in Sliabh gCua, Touraneena in County Waterford. It is an award winning farmhouse, and the people running it provide a simple product. They introduced people from Europe, Canada and the US and such people are coming back. The simple tourism product is the real Ireland of the welcomes. They get good, clean accommodation and good directions to places to visit in the area. Although the people running the farmhouse have advertised on the Internet, it is the experience they offer people that brings such people back. We need to go back to those old characteristics and tourism will benefit from that.

While the economy was strong over the last few years, there was much focus on spas and golf clubs, which are important products. However, we need to strengthen tourism by assisting communities. Senators have already spoken about how people can contribute to tourism. Communities themselves offer a great product, and I have been involved in a project on the links between Waterford and Newfoundland in Canada. Over 100,000 Canadian visitors came to Ireland last year. The Canadian economy is still doing quite well, and those tourists are still likely to travel. However, only 40% of those tourists visited the south-east region, and only 9% spent a night in the region. This is the case, in spite of huge cultural links between Waterford, the south-east region in general and Newfoundland in Canada. Simple work can be done to attract more Canadian visitors to our region.

It would be remiss of me to contribute to this debate without mentioning Waterford Crystal. The Minister has this in his heart and has done much work in the background to retain the visitor product at Waterford Crystal. This facility attracts over 310,000 visitors per annum to Waterford and the south-east region. It contributes millions to the Exchequer, and the spin off business from the visitor attraction at Waterford Crystal for hotels, guesthouses, pubs, restaurants, and even the liner business into the Waterford Estuary, could be lost unless we address this issue urgently. I call on the Government to come with a strategy to fill the vacuum that has been created by the loss of Waterford Crystal to Waterford city. Some local business people are doing their utmost to come up with an alternative facility so that crystal can be manufactured in Waterford and an attraction provided, but this is a world recognised brand and we cannot afford to lose such an attraction in the south east. The Government should treat this issue with the urgency it deserves, because it is essential that this visitor attraction remains in Waterford.

This debate has been very welcome. Tourism can survive this recession. We concentrated in the past on promoting spas and golf clubs, but we need to go back to assisting communities. Local authorities have a role to play, and Waterford County Council is involved in a progressive tourism product, that is, the Waterford food fair. The Minister opened the fair last year and I attended it. It attracts people from Ireland, the UK and from Europe. It goes back to what is good and different about Ireland. We are selling our food, an indigenous product, and we are promoting tourism around that, and hotels, guesthouses and restaurants will benefit. The food fair was a local initiative that was assisted by the local authority and by Government agencies, but we need more of this and we need to market it more often. That is the way we can grow tourism in this country.