Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there will be another Gathering event in 2018 or 2019; his views on whether this is a good idea; and if there is support within the tourism industry for this. [22126/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Action 9 of the Tourism Action Plan 2016-2018, published in January 2016, stated that the tourism agencies, in collaboration with my Department and tourism industry stakeholders, would draw up a shortlist of suggested themes (including the possibility of a successor to the Gathering) for a focused tourism marketing initiative. The original Gathering was conceived at a time when Ireland's tourism sector was struggling with the effects of the economic crisis and tourist numbers had fallen very significantly. At that time, there were no "experience brands" like the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East, and Dublin - A Breath of Fresh Air. Since then, these branding initiatives have received very considerable public investment in capital and marketing expenditure and have been hugely successful in attracting overseas visitors. My officials have been engaging with Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the Tourism Leadership Group with regard to the possibility of a themed year. A number of possible themes have been put forward and further consideration is being given to the timing of a themed year. Ideally, a themed year would be timed to avail of spare capacity, particularly with regard to accommodation, and also with regard to access to Ireland through our air and sea ports.  2016 was a record year for Tourism in Ireland, as was 2015 and 2017 is continuing that trend. My officials will continue to monitor the tourism trends, along with wider developments (including the impacts of Brexit) and feed that into their consideration of the timing of a themed year.