Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the efforts that are being made to promote cross-Border tourism; his views on whether the promotion of the island of Ireland as a holiday destination will have mutual benefits on both sides of the Border; the success of this initiative thus far; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15150/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Tourism Ireland was established in 2000 under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement to increase tourism to the island of Ireland as a whole. It is jointly funded on a North-South basis. This year I have allocated over €45 million in Exchequer funding to the company and Northern Ireland has committed over €19 million.

Tourism Ireland delivers on its mandate through: undertaking destination-marketing programmes to stimulate demand for visiting the island of Ireland; facilitating and supporting business links to improve distribution of the Ireland tourism product to potential consumers; and acting as an advocate for overseas consumers and trade to influence the quality of the tourism experience on the island of Ireland.

Clearly there have been specific benefits to the single destination approach. Visitors to the island of Ireland have increased every year since the all-island overseas marketing body Tourism Ireland was formed. In this jurisdiction, the number of visitors has increased by more than 16% in the period from 2001 to 2005. The expenditure by these visitors has grown by almost 20%. In Northern Ireland, the results have also been very positive with growth in tourism numbers of about 30% in that period. There has also been a significant increase in the number of overseas visitors travelling north and south of the Border in recent years — amounting to more than 370,000 in 2004.

Central to Tourism Ireland's success is the "Island of Ireland" brand, which has just been refreshed in response to consumer research in our main markets and Britain in particular. Since its inception, Tourism Ireland has rapidly developed into one of the most effective tourism marketing agencies in the world, one that is committed to staying ahead of the game internationally. The most recent example of this commitment was the launch of its new suite of 27 websites to market Ireland internationally which I, along with my Northern Irish counterpart, Minister Angela Smith, attended in Belfast in March. From a North-South perspective, the launch of this suite of websites was also very significant in that it represented the culmination of many months work by the key tourism players on this island — Tourism Ireland in close collaboration with the industry on the island, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and Fáilte Ireland. All of them played a vital part in developing this website — not only through their participation in the e-marketing partnership group — but in working towards a comprehensive e-marketing strategy for the island of Ireland.

In the wider political context, we are at a crucial stage in delivering on the promise contained in the Good Friday Agreement. North-South co-operation has, time and again, proven extremely important in highlighting the practical benefits of working more closely together on this island. We continually see the practical outcomes of North-South co-operation. The work of the tourism agencies, North and South, and their business partners continues to inspire all of those who are working towards a vision of an island economy based on practical co-operation and mutual benefit.

Through the all-island tourism marketing partnership, the three tourism agencies — Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board — together with the industry on the island are working to develop a cohesive and integrated approach to their overseas marketing activities, including potential synergies in niche-special interest tourism areas.

Apart from the international marketing of Ireland as a single tourist destination, there have also been a number of domestic initiatives to promote cross-Border tourism, which have been supported by Fáilte Ireland, including: Rally Ireland, the cross-Border event held in March to showcase Ireland as a suitable venue for a World Rally Championship event; the North West Passage tourist route; the North West Trail for cycling and walking; Destination North West, a cross-border co-operative arrangement between tourism development and marketing agencies in the north west region. Glens and Lakelands is a similar linked venture covering Cavan, Monaghan and parts of Antrim. The Green Box Eco-Tourism project, an EU-funded project designating a cross-Border area as Ireland's first integrated eco-tourism destination. This also incorporates the EU-funded Kingfisher Cycle trail. There is North-South co-operation in the field of tourism statistics. The development of closer co-operation on tourism research has also been identified as a key priority going forward.

Throughout 2006, Fáilte Ireland will be undertaking a major marketing campaign in Northern Ireland to attract more Northern Irish visitors to the South. Expenditure by visitors here from Northern Ireland was up by 3% in 2005 with clear potential for further growth. The Northern Irish Tourist Board recently estimated a 6% increase in visitors to Northern Ireland from the South.