Tourism chief sees ‘green shoots’

IT has been an annus horribilis for tourism, nowhere more so than Clare but there are green shoots appearing according to Tourism Ireland chief executive, Niall Gibbons.

“It has been a bad year, there was bad weather at the beginning and at the end with volcanic ash in between. Having said that, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Global tourism has returned to growth this year, particularly in Asia and Africa and it’s expected to happen in Europe next year,” he said on a visit to the Mid-West on Wednesday.
Ireland faced a number of very severe difficulties in 2010 he claimed, some of which won’t be as problematic next year. “One of the big factors was the global economic climate and lower consumer confidence, particularly in Britain. Eighty-five per cent of visitors to Ireland come by air and in 2008, there were half a million seats a week available coming into Ireland. This summer there were 425,000 seats a week available and that all adds up to a difficult picture. But we’re optimistic now with the US returning to growth and consumer confidence on the rise,” he told The Clare Champion.
He said Tourism Ireland would be concentrating on four countries in the year ahead. “Our main focus will be on the US, the UK, Germany and France. These countries deliver 75% of visitors to Ireland, so we’ll be fishing where the fish are,” he said.
Last week may have seen the most severe budget in the State’s history but he felt it was good for tourism. “I think it was very good for tourism overall. One thing is the reduction in the air travel tax, which will make every ticket to Ireland €7 cheaper. Also the Dublin Airport Authority (which also has responsibility for Shannon) has an incentive scheme so there will be a good incentive to market Ireland,” Mr Gibbons said.
He added that while Shannon has suffered due to Ryanair scaling back, work is going into its promotion. “In the winter of 2008, there were 32,000 seats a week going into Shannon but this winter, it was down to 14,500. But I’m delighted there is a new strategy for Shannon and that there is a new service to Charles De Gaulle from the region. There is a group working to help market Shannon in Birmingham and Manchester and we are involved in major co-operation with Aer Lingus to promote Shannon in French newspapers and websites. We are also arranging familiarisation visits for journalists and people involved in tourism.”
Mr Gibbons said Irish hotels are now the cheapest in Western Europe and perceptions of Ireland, as a value-for-money destination, have improved significantly.