Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 125: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his strategy to rebalance the east-west divide in tourism spend here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42410/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Under the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003, the individual actions and measures relating to tourism promotion and development at regional level are day-to-day functions of the State Tourism Agencies.

Firstly, I should point out that, based on 2008 figures, the regions outside of Dublin earn 70% of all Tourism revenue. In this regard, the domestic market is an increasingly important component of tourism business in Ireland, particularly in terms of seasonal and regional spread, accounting for 28% of overall visitor revenues in 2008. Statistics on the regional spread of tourism in 2008 also show that 94% of holiday nights by domestic tourists were spent outside the Dublin area, with 92% of domestic holiday expenditure being generated outside the capital. This offsets, to some extent, the relative strength of Dublin in the overseas visitors market where it accounted for almost 37% of visitor revenues in 2008. The strength of Dublin, and indeed other urban destinations in Ireland, can be attributed to the global trend for more short urban breaks. This has improved the seasonality of Irish tourism but has made achieving regional spread of growth more challenging.

That said, the fact that all regions and sectors are not benefiting to the same extent from our tourism industry continues to be a matter for attention from the Department and the State tourism agencies as tourism policy and programmes evolve. I am confident that the regional tourism development strategies for the period 2008-2010 that have been prepared by the Regional Tourism Development Boards and are currently being implemented are facilitating the tourism industry to maximise its contribution to the regions, and that the various region-specific initiatives managed by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland will further help to address this situation.

Furthermore, an extensive range of marketing, product development, festival and sporting events, training and business supports have been rolled out by the Tourism State Agencies under the Tourism Services budget of the Department. For example, despite cutbacks in public expenditure, the Government has maintained the core overseas marketing spend in 2009 at over €47 million.

A major focus of Fáilte Ireland activity in 2009 is on continuing to expand the home market with in excess of €3 million being invested in a year-round marketing programme including television, radio, press and outdoor channels to promote awareness of, and interest in, taking a break during 2009. The two key drivers of this programme are ''Value' and 'Convenience'. In September, Fáilte Ireland launched an enhanced Autumn domestic tourism marketing campaign with special offers and discounts. In addition, €4 million is being invested in supporting local and national festivals as a critical attraction within the home holiday campaign for 2009.