Shannon Region labelled the ‘basket case’ of Irish tourism

AN unprecedented collapse in overseas visitor numbers in the Mid-West is certain to trigger calls for a comprehensive review of the performance record of the three State tourism promotion agencies.
The precise extent of the 2009 meltdown has yet to be established and is being disputed by Shannon Development.
At this week’s release of its company’s review of 2009 activity, chief executive Dr Vincent Cunnane suggested that last year’s decline compared to the 2008 was closer to 22% rather than the 27% reversal suggested by Niall Gibbons, head of Tourism Ireland, the all-island promoter of overseas tourism.
“Whatever the final figure turns out to be, a slump on the scale of last year makes the Shannon Region [Mid-West] the basket case of Irish tourism,” Irish Hotels Federation Shannon branch chairman, Michael Vaughan said.
As a member of the Shannon Regional Tourism Board and newly appointed chairman of the tourism pillar of the 500-member Atlantic Way business alliance, he will be joined by other highly placed figures in demanding answers.
What has particularly disturbed tourism interests is the depth of the Shannon Region slump. Figures in circulation suggest that the decline in the West Region centred on Galway and Connemara was 17% while the reversal in the Dublin region was 6%.
“In the language of English football, what this means is that the Shannon Region has fallen from its position as the Manchester United of Irish tourism and is now in the Third Division,” Mr Vaughan said.
Dispute and confusion over the extent of the decline has been going on since last year and centred on an updated system of measurement. In the latter years of his term, the immediate past chief executive of Shannon Development, Kevin Thompstone, wanted earlier and more accurate feedback from the tourism sector so that strategies and initiatives could be adjusted to cope with changing circumstances.
The National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies at the University of Limerick was brought in and its calculations and forecasts have been stirring controversy since last year.
Last August the number crunchers reckoned that overseas visitor numbers in the Shannon Region were down by 20%. This was disputed by Shannon Development but tallied with a tracking exercise that was being conducted among Clare and Limerick hotels.
“A rolling survey of 15 hotels was indicating that a 20% downturn was reflected in the overseas business of the hotels,” Mr Vaughan said.
“The Shannon Region seems to have lost the bulk of the American coach tour business to the Galway region,” he added.
“Not so long ago CIE Tours,