Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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18. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will increase the tourism marketing budget to mitigate the decline in visitor numbers from the UK; and his plans to implement a business support fund to aid small to medium tourism businesses affected by the decline in visitors from Britain. [41968/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I welcome the overall growth in visit numbers to Ireland in the first eight months of 2017. However, the persistent decline in the numbers visiting from Great Britain continues to be a concern. Growth from North America, Mainland Europe and other markets has allowed us to maintain upward momentum.

Overseas marketing is vital for tourism. While recent tourism performance has been strong, research in our key overseas markets has indicated that Ireland’s share of voice needs to be strengthened.   To that end, I have secured €2m in Budget 2018 for digital investment in tourism marketing, both to help restore Ireland’s share of voice vis-à-vis its competitors and also to develop growth from alternative markets. This is critical in the context of Brexit and the decline in visitors from Britain.

Tourism Ireland and industry partners, working in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland, have implemented a series of actions in the GB market to address the implications of Brexit and the fall in the value of sterling.  For example, a greater focus has been placed on ‘culturally curious’ visitors, who are less impacted by currency fluctuations and highlighting off-season breaks and value offers.  As well as this, Tourism Ireland is continuing its market diversification strategy. This aims to attract more visitors from markets which deliver longer stays and, therefore, higher revenue returns. The market diversification strategy, amongst other possible factors, has led to a significant increase in visitors from North America and other markets thus far in 2017.

While my Department provides funding to Fáilte Ireland for investment in the provision of business and training supports, it is not directly involved in developing or managing these supports. This is a matter for the Board and Management of Fáilte Ireland. However, I am pleased to also have secured an increase in Fáilte Ireland’s current expenditure budget for 2018 and I am asking Fáilte Ireland to allocate some of this budget towards Brexit-related activities.

Fáilte Ireland recently launched a new 'Get Brexit Ready' programme to provide tailored support to help Irish tourism businesses meet specific Brexit-related challenges.  The programme offers a suite of industry supports, designed to help businesses to respond to the loss of trade created by Brexit. It allows individual businesses to self-assess their exposures and risks and provides a range of interventions to match their needs.