John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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22. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of recent indications that an economic recovery is being experienced within the Irish market, if he will provide the volume of tourists who have visited here in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013; the efforts that have been made by his Department to encourage increased numbers of visitors to the south east region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36801/14]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the publication of statistics on tourism.  CSO figures show that, in 2011, a total of 2.728 million visits to Ireland were categorised as ‘holiday/leisure/recreation’ visits out of a total of 6.505 million. In 2012, a total of 2.832 million visits were in this category, out of a total of 6.517 million, and in 2013, a total of 3.059 million visits were categorised as ‘holiday/leisure/recreation’, out of a total of 6.986 million.

My Department's role in relation to tourism is concerned primarily with national policy, and operational responsibility for the development and promotion of tourism is devolved to Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

Fáilte Ireland is currently developing a unifying tourism proposition for the east and south. These areas share a rich historic built environment, for example Viking Waterford, Medieval Kilkenny and Brú na Boinne. This project will group the cultural and heritage tourism assets of the east and south via a network of routes, trails and journeys that will appeal to overseas visitors. It is expected that the project will be launched in early 2015.

Tourism Ireland is the agency with responsibility for promoting the island of Ireland as a visitor destination in overseas markets.  This year, Tourism Ireland has undertaken a range of activity to promote the South East, for example it has highlighted that Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, celebrating its 1,100th anniversary in 2014.  The many festivals and events taking place in the South East are promoted by Tourism Ireland around the world on its international website, which is available in ten different languages for over 30 individual markets, and through extensive social media activity.

In terms of other activities to promote tourism in the South East region, I am also referring the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland for further details.