Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am delighted to have the Minister of State in the House as he has the bubble of energy for tourism. I know how strongly he feels about it. I grew up with the tourism business and my father built Red Island holiday camp in 1947 and I spent 13 years in that business. One message I would like the Minister of State to get across comes from the business I learned on that occasion. It is that everything done at that time was aimed to get the customer to return. At my father's holiday camp, the customer paid on the day of arrival and there were no further charges and the customer did not need to carry any more money. Everything was included. The only way to judge success was if the guest came up to my father at the end of the week and said he or she would return the following year. We must convince everybody in Ireland that tourism is about taking the long-term approach and asking how to get people to say they will come back next year.

I spent five years as chairman of the St. Patrick's festival in Dublin and during those years we managed to increase the festivities from one day to three, although that was Government policy and I do not take credit for it. It is amazing how one can identify this festival; some Japanese have told me that if they had an event like St. Patrick's day, they would use it to such an extent that the whole world would know about. We have it and we must ensure we use it.

The Minister of State did not really touch on food tourism. Fáilte Ireland indicated to me last year that it recognised that people on holidays spent approximately four or five hours each day at a table, and what they eat and drink plays a large part in their trip. Some parts of the country are booming as a result of this, particularly Kinsale, Waterford and where I come from in Howth, which has so many restaurants, tapas bars and other places to eat. This will provide encouragement.

What is missing from the proposal is a strategic plan for tourism development. There is no strategic plan currently and the last strategic plan was formulated in 2003. The world has changed much since, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the recent capital spending programme, dealing with 2012 to 2016. Tourism is set to receive €81 million but that is a repackaging of previous commitments. Some of the decisions and major projects, such as the Book of Kells visitor centre in Trinity College, the Viking triangle in Waterford, the great western green way in Mayo, King John's castle and the Limerick river side, as well as Derrynane House in Killarney, were dealt with a good while ago. They are not new and I am a little sceptical of attempts to frame this as a new investment in tourism.

I am also concerned that the planned investment in higher education for the sector has been put on hold indefinitely. The Dublin Institute of Technology move to Grangegorman has been stalled and the planned development of a new hospitality, tourism and culinary arts building at the institute of technology in Tallaght has also been deferred. I spoke recently to Mr. Raymond Keaney, the lecturer in tourism and hospitality in Tallaght. A great job is being done in those areas but it is a step backwards not to invest in the sector. Why does Ireland not have a world class hospitality and tourism infrastructure in higher education, or an Irish Cornell Hotel School equivalent? The only place we have that is close is Ballymaloe, and I understand from Ms Darina Allen that people are queuing up in London for graduates from the Ballymaloe school. They just walk into jobs because they are so highly regarded. We need investment in the sector.

I call on the Minister of State to work on a new strategic plan for the future. Australia developed a plan in 2009, addressing issues such as excellence in products and service delivery to ensure a high-value destination, measuring performance to track progress and support strategic priorities. Investment would be facilitated along with regulatory reform to ensure the product remains competitive in the global market. The market should note such plans and a strategy should be formulated by a much wider range of interest groups, including opinion leaders and advisory bodies. There should be development from previous plans involving hospitality, tourism, retail, arts and culture, transport, food, heritage, environment, agriculture and the marine, technology and education. Bodies involved should include chambers of commerce, local authorities, media, the ESRI and Forfás.

The Seanad would be the ideal venue to start a debate on a new strategic plan for tourism, and perhaps that is what we are having today. We need to act now as international tourist arrivals worldwide are set to almost double from 952 million in 2010 to 1.8 billion within 18 years. The EU is supporting initiatives for the tourism industry for the first time and we should not be left behind. I am interested to hear the Minister of State's view on developing a strategic plan in that regard.

Will the Minister of State indicate how he is helping tourism businesses move to the digital age and find out the many possibilities available if they improve knowledge of information technology? Will some of the funding mentioned by the Minister of State be diverted in this way? There is a project entitled Digital Tourism Wales, which seeks to assist tourism businesses and supporting organisations in adapting new technology to meet visitor expectations and become more competitive in the market as a result. For example, money will be available to help businesses in the web 2.0 current, and new applications, such as Google Places, can be used to make businesses more visible. There is much we can learn from other countries by examining what they are doing.

This is an appropriate time to raise again the state of the National Archives. They are part of the tourism business. Not only do they hold much of our history but they present a great opportunity in terms of people who come to this country to trace their roots, in particular from America and across the Atlantic. Currently, the buildings are in a bad state. I hope the Minister of State is examining solutions to the problem. Options also arise with buildings under the remit of NAMA that might be appropriate to house this vital resource. We cannot let it deteriorate further because of the many opportunities it presents.

There are other things we can do. I congratulate RTE which made a series of programme last year called "Tracks and Trails". It is doing it again this year. The series focused on six areas last year and another six will be chosen this year. I was involved in the programme on Howth. I learned a great deal about Howth but I also learned how broadcasting such programmes encourages internal tourism. It is only a half hour programme but I spoke to one man who had brought out a bus load of tourists just to walk the tracks and trails around Howth. The group of 35 ate in a local restaurant - there is a great selection of restaurants here. That was brought about by RTE sponsoring Mr. Jim Sherwin to produce the "Tracks and Trails" series.

RTE also did a good job in Drogheda. Senator Brennan referred to County Louth. He tended to focus on north Louth rather than south Louth. A man called Mr. Noel Toolan has put his heart and soul into reminding everyone that Drogheda is on the Boyne and it is the bedroom for the tourism business of the Boyne Valley. It is a reminder that RTE, a State agency, is able to do something in its public service broadcasting mission and in the case of that series it is doing a very good job.

The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, has his heart in the right place and the correct objectives. Let us ensure we do not lose this opportunity.