Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the action, in chronological order, he, his Department or the North South Ministerial Council have taken for North-South co-operation in relation to tourism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5758/08]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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North South cooperation on tourism has been ongoing for a number of years and continues on a regular basis between the relevant Departments north and south and the respective tourism agencies. As the Deputy will be aware, tourism was specifically identified in the Good Friday Agreement as an area of cooperation. Even before the Agreement however, there was significant co-operation in tourism and joint marketing started in the mid 1990s through the Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative (OTMI). The establishment of Tourism Ireland however, as a North South Body responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas has, in my opinion, been an impressive example of the tangible benefits to be achieved from closer more structured economic collaboration on this island.

Since assuming full responsibility for marketing the island overseas in the 2001/2002 period, the company has grown to become a professional, sophisticated international marketing organisation which is widely respected by its peers and the international tourism and travel trade in its main markets. The company has been highly successful in terms of attracting overseas visitors. It is estimated that the tourism industry on the island is now worth in excess of €6.5 billion per annum and well over 9 million overseas visitors came to the island last year alone. In terms of recent developments, on the 8th November last I met with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland, Nigel Dodds MP, at the first North South Ministerial Council meeting in Tourism Sectoral format since the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly. At this meeting, we approved Tourism Ireland's Business Plan for 2008 and its Corporate Plan for the period 2008 — 2010. These plans set ambitious targets for the continued growth of tourism to the island of Ireland which, if achieved, will result in up to 10.6 million visitors to the island by 2010 with an associated €16 billion in tourism revenues over that 3 year period.

On the development side, my Department has been working with the tourism agencies, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and the Special EU Programmes Body to advance the selection of tourism projects which may benefit from funding under the next round of the EU Interreg Programme. This work has generated a number of agreed themes for tourism cooperation such as:

Access, accessibility and dispersal

Transnational & UK Links

Tourism product development, major projects and attractions

International Competitiveness (businesses, skills and capacity)

Marketing & E Commerce

Green Tourism Standard.

Another recent example of north/south cooperation on tourism was the hosting of Rally Ireland last November which was supported by both the Irish (through Fáilte Ireland's International Sports Tourism Initiative) and Northern Ireland authorities. The rally route took in eight counties on both sides of the Border and it is estimated that the event was seen by 800 million television viewers in 180 countries. These viewers got to see some of the most scenic landscapes on the island including the lake lands of Sligo, Leitrim, Tyrone and Fermanagh and the Atlantic coast roads of Donegal. The decision to award a further round of the Rally in 2009 to the island of Ireland was a strong endorsement of the success of last year's event.

North/South cooperation on tourism exists on a less formal basis in areas such as education and training; product marketing and publicity; tourism statistics and research; E-business and e-marketing; and accommodation standards. A variety of initiatives are being developed and pursued by the tourism agencies across these areas to enhance the level of cooperation that already exists. These are just some examples of the variety of North-South initiatives underway to develop tourism on this island. For my part, I am fully committed to the development of North-South cooperation at all levels and I am ready to support any new opportunities that may emerge in this regard in the future.