Where is Irish tourism going?

MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher has told local authorities and the national tourism authorities to redouble their efforts in order to assist the tourism industry in working through their current difficulties.

Pat the Cope Gallagher was speaking at the opening of the National Tourism Conference, Tourism in Recessionary Times, organised by the Clare Tourist Council and in conjunction with Clare County Council, which was held in Ennistymon last weekend.

During a hard-hitting address, Pat the Cope did not pull any punches regarding Ireland’s performance in the UK market in the past five years, which has seen visitor numbers from the UK plummet from 3.8 million in 2007 to 2.7m in 2012.

“The real action in tourism is overseas business and our greatest problem is the poor performance in the UK which accounts for 40% of our overseas visitor numbers.

“We need a very focused and aggressive marketing campaign in the UK to commence with immediate effect. Both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland need to roll up their sleeves and work together in order to reverse the trend of the last five years,” Mr Gallagher stated.

The conference was told that over eight million overseas visitors came to Ireland in 2007 but that this has fallen to just over six million in 2012.

The number of Irish holidaying at home has also fallen and is estimated to be down 5% in 2012. Tourism revenue for 2012 is expected to be €5.7 billion, unchanged since 2011. Of this, €5.7bn in tourism revenue, €1.4bn directly benefits the Exchequer through taxation. Fáilte Ireland estimates that total employment in the tourism industry was 185,000 in 2012.

It is estimated that three million visitors last year engaged in cultural activities on their visit to Ireland, this ranged from visiting great houses or castles, monuments, museums/art galleries, heritage and interpretive centres.

Hiking and cross-country walking, golf, angling, cycling, water-based activities are the most popular activities undertaken by tourists with walking, accounting for 700,000 visitors, by far and away the most popular activity of all.

“We know why people visit Ireland and I am calling on local authorities to prioritise tourism and to focus on completing the upgrade of major tourism attractions, develop a number of key iconic attractions and improve infrastructure for recreational walking, cycling, water-based activities and heritage attractions.

“I’m talking of issues such as access, visitor centres, catering and toilet facilities, parking, signage, litter management and so on. If our attractions are not of an international standard then visitors will not come, it really is as simple as that,” the MEP representing Clare stated.

“We are an island but have so few coastal walks, this is unacceptable and is one of the reasons why we are not attracting sufficient overseas visitors to the regions,” he added.

Mr Gallagher praised the tourism trade for adjusting their price base and stated there is now a much more positive image of Ireland with regard to a value-for-money destination. Research conducted with holidaymakers during the summer months of 2012 indicates the value for money they experienced in the areas they stayed has improved with eight out of 10 expressing a positive response to the value on offer.

“In all markets, the proportion of visitors rating value for money as poor dropped markedly between 2011 and 2012 again showing the strong improvement in this area. I congratulate the trade on this but I would encourage the industry to remain vigilant as any upward adjustment can quickly cause severe damage to our improved reputation,” he stated.

Mr Gallagher, while praising the initiative for The Gathering, cautioned that it did not seem as yet to have caught the public’s imagination.

“The Gathering is likely to play a crucial role in tourism performance but I worry that the same approach as years gone by will not be sufficient. All public agencies together with the community sector and private industry need to work together to maximise the economic benefits of this initiative. I would love to see more innovation in the marketing of Ireland especially in new and emerging markets.

“For instance, 10,000 Chinese visitors come to Ireland each year but this has the potential to increase considerably, especially given China’s strong economy and growing population. Tourism Ireland needs to be innovative in helping the industry to maximise this market’s potential and both themselves and Fáilte Ireland need to bring a new innovative approach to all markets whilst selling The Gathering overseas,” he commented.

Mr Gallagher was also speaking ahead of a key seminar he attended on Wednesday at the European Parliament in Brussels entitled ‘EU Strategy for Tourism’.

“The seminar in Brussels will present an opportunity to discuss the rationale for the inclusion of tourism in the EU’s Multi-Annual Framework 2014-2020. It will bring together policymakers, key representatives of the Irish tourism industry, European tourism operators and travel associations to discuss a strategy that could pave the way to greater competitiveness and sustainability for the sector in the future.

“Europe’s tourism sector offers tremendous potential to advance the goals set out in the Europe 2020 strategy, such as smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. This opportunity will only be realised if tourism receives additional financial support from the EU,” Mr Gallagher concluded.