Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I appreciate his being here. I know this is not his area of specialty as a Minister of State.

The aviation industry and the hospitality sector have been decimated in the past two years. I welcome the opportunity with this Commencement matter to raise the need for an aviation and hospitality tourism recovery task force strategy. My Commencement matter is timely as the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation published data just this morning which show comparisons with 2019, three years ago. Hotel occupancy in February of this year was 57% that of 2019. The number of inbound tourists from North America was down 48%, or 44,000, from 2019. Most worrying is that the number of tourists from Great Britain was down 40%, or 152,000, on the figure for 2019, with the number from the rest of the world down 52% and the number from continental Europe down 35%.

I think everybody in the aviation, hospitality and tourism sectors recognises and would commend the Government on the supports given. The summer of 2022 is now already set in respect of our aviation sector. We have a lot of air capacity, with seats and routes to and from Ireland reintroduced. The potential for tourism numbers to grow this summer is quite good. I am told the increase will be 70% or thereabouts on the 2019 level.

However, there are challenges. As the Minister of State will know, we are an island nation depending primarily on our aviation sector for connectivity. Inbound passenger numbers to our main airports are significantly down, by almost a third. As I said, we are on the cusp of summer 2022, whereby everything is set in respect of seats and sails.

My ask, including of the Government, is for a long-term vision and strategy for 2023 and beyond, whereby we continue to support the aviation sector and our tourism and hospitality industry. It is important that airports and airlines work together collaboratively to regrow and re-establish our connectivity. The fundamental question that I ask the Government is how we will grow our connectivity. A recovery strategy for aviation, tourism and hospitality is needed. It is critical that we work with all stakeholders to have a roadmap for the future in terms of rebuilding connectivity and looking at the challenges we face as we emerge from Covid. Unfortunately, we have the horrific war in Ukraine, which we all condemn, and we stand with the Ukrainian people. That is having an impact on us in terms of inflation, labour shortages and fuel prices.

The airline industry and market have changed substantially. I hope we will look at the aviation sector. Stobart Air has gone. Aer Lingus is operating fewer routes on short-haul flights, which has a profound impact on airports such as Cork, for example. The strong supports given by the Government must be sustained to support our aviation and tourism travel industry. Some 23 cent in every euro of tourism spend is kept in the country. A defined aviation and tourism recovery strategy for 2023 and beyond is needed as we emerge from the biggest crisis we have had, namely Covid, and, unfortunately, now a war, which, again, we all condemn.

I look forward to the Minister of State's reply. I appreciate that this is not his area and I thank him for being here this morning. I thank you, Acting Chairperson, for allowing me to speak.