Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when he expects to launch the results of Tourism Ireland's review of the North American market; the estimate as to the economic value of visitors from North America to Ireland; his views on whether the national tourist industry is in a position to exploit the benefits of increased numbers of North American visitors during the period of the Ryder Cup; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34810/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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As part of its operational responsibility for marketing the island of Ireland as a tourism destination overseas, Tourism Ireland carried out a major Review of the North American Market. I launched the Review on Tuesday last. The full Review is available on Tourism Ireland's website, www.tourismireland.com.

North America remains one of the core markets for Irish tourism and its visitors are particularly important because they tend to stay longer, spend more and travel more widely within Ireland than the average visitor.

In 2005, it is estimated that the almost 1 million North American visitors to Ireland generated foreign earnings of over €700 million. Current data for 2006 suggest that those visitor numbers are still growing, with an increase of close to 10% to end August compared to the similar period last year.

Notwithstanding this performance and the level of latent demand identified in the Tourism Ireland Review, we are faced with a continuing challenge in the US market, in particular, due to the access restrictions imposed by the current Bilateral Agreement on air transport.

Tourism Ireland's Review clearly identifies the need for increased capacity on the Atlantic route if Ireland is to fully exploit the US market and identifies a number of gateways where increased or new services would be beneficial.

The success of the hosting of the Ryder Cup matches in Ireland has been widely acclaimed. I am confident that there will be a lasting benefit to our tourism industry, and the golf sector in particular, as a result of the raising of Ireland's profile internationally.

International experience suggests that the real spin-off of very major international sporting events comes in the years immediately succeeding the event. It is vital, therefore, that we have a clear strategy in place to build on the exposure that the Ryder Cup matches has given us. This has been addressed by the Tourism Agencies and I believe that the industry here is well placed to reap the benefits of the great success of the event in the years ahead.