Tourism is an aspect of life in which we are all interested. This Bill increases the amounts Bord Fáilte may dispose of in the future in order to promote and enhance our investment in tourist amenities and resorts, thereby encouraging a greater number of people here year after year.
A Supplementary Estimate for Transport and Power is being taken in conjunction with this Bill. The Minister, in referring to that Supplementary Estimate, said that tourism is on the increase here, a fact we are all glad to learn. Those of us interested in tourism would like to think we could push the subject of violence into the background, closing the door on it but, unfortunately, I do not suppose we will be able to do that for some time. In the meantime, bearing in mind that tourist traffic in Europe was on the decrease while it was increasing here this is an indication of the work, publicity and energy brought to bear on this subject by Bord Fáilte.
It is quite a number of years now since we set out to enhance the prospects of this country and present our tourist attractions in the best possible manner, with Bord Fáilte leading the way. It is gratifying to be able to report progress, especially in a period which could be described as a valley one from the point of view of tourism. The money sought in the Supplementary Estimate to enhance the prospects of tourism will be a good investment in the long run.
I had very little time at my disposal to go through the report of Bord Fáilte for 1974 and, regrettably, we are a little early for the 1975 report. However, I would imagine that the board being able to report such progress in 1974, will be able to report even better progress in 1975 because another element, namely the weather, came to our aid. When the returns for this year come to hand I think they will show that it has been an outstanding year for tourism. At any rate, it is an ongoing proposition and shows that we here—and we, as politicians, have to give a certain amount of moral and other support to our organisations and semi-State bodies—are endeavouring to ensure that it is maintained. In the 1974 report it is indicated that we are not merely holding a share of the international tourist trade but are tending to increase it and one would presume that this trend will continue. The fact that we are establishing more contacts in Europe than formerly, that we are not as isolated as we were—we are in contact with Europeans weekly— and the fact that Bord Fáilte have offices in most strategically placed major cities in Europe should ensure that this work of encouraging tourists here will continue.
It has often been said that we should have a great share of tourism from Britain because of the Irish-related character of that business, because we have a large number of Irish people in Britain. Britain showed up fairly well, the numbers increasing, as did those from America and Canada where the Irish content or relationship would not be as great as in Britain. The fact that we had an increase in American and Canadian visitors here is an indication that staying at the job through advertising, establishing contacts and generally encouraging tour operators, pays off in the long run.
There are many sides to tourism. We shall have to see to it that, whilst we are developing in another direction, developing our primary industry, agriculture, we are finding new methods of intensified farmyard production and so on. There is widespread throughout the country an element which was not hitherto there, the threat of pollution. Pollution can and will erode our tourism efforts unless we tackle it in time and circumvent the treat of it year by year. I would submit that we have not done enough in this regard. The Bord Fáilte proposition for zoning the country may be a start, but I am not fully in favour of zoning because this is a small country and its overall progress should be uniform. I am told the board have a forward zoning plan to combat this threat of pollution which they have discussed with local authorities and others interested.
Agricultural pollution is not as dangerous as pollution from industry. If we establish industries at various strategic parts of the country we are in danger of polluting our rivers and lakes. We were on a short visit to Europe a year ago in a lovely country which I do not intend to name, but in beautiful surroundings all the rivers were polluted. This makes life very sad for the people residing there and it curbs very drastically their social activities. It is not until one is brought up against a problem like this that one fully realises the extent of the danger.
I do not want to harp on this matter, but I think that holding an investment of the extent we hold, which Bord Fáilte spearheaded, and having extensive natural resources, it would be a pity not to open our eyes to the threat inherent in modern production both from the point of view of industry and, to a lesser degree, of agriculture.
I said earlier that, in perusing the report, I came to the conclusion that we were making reasonably good progress in regaining the ground we lost recently and not so recently arising from other factors not altogether within our control. If we are able to keep up the good work, as I say, we should get back to a position where we can report a very high income from of something like £129 million or tourism. The report mentions a return £130 million from tourists of all descriptions, and this was spread over many regions. The great appeal about the business of tourism is that it is well distributed and most countries have an income of some kind from the tourist trade.
Tourism is a business which is not noticed very much by the man in the street. It is not talked about in the same way as other industries like agriculture or industry proper. But for the various promotions which the board spearhead the man in the street would not be so much aware that our tourist trade was either increasing or decreasing. In tourism we started off by giving fairly good grants to hotels. Regrettably, in the last 18 months we lost, according to the report, 1,000 hotel bedrooms. This arose from many causes. In Dublin, where office development enhanced the price sites would fetch, some hotels gave way in that direction. Others started with too much enthusiasm and found, as time went on, like every other business, that the ground was getting heavier, and they disappeared from the scene. However, in the coming year we should be able to more than make up the lost hotel rooms we suffered.
I noticed the board carried out a scheme of regarding hotels in the various regions. I have not much experience of it except that of a customer going into a hotel, having a meal and, perhaps, attending a conference. Bord Fáilte were wise to carry out the regarding of hotels because a number of hotels were trying to achieve something beyond their reach. The regrading will serve a useful purpose.
We have made good progress in guesthouse and farmhouse accommodation. The farmhouse accommodation has come to the forefront in tourism in recent years. In former years we probably concentrated too much time on promoting hotels and, perhaps, not enough time on promoting guesthouse and farmhouse accommodation. When one thinks of a hotel one always thinks of the comfort and the tone of the hotel. There are people who apparently thought some years ago that getting a licence to sell liquor and a certain roomage at their disposal was enough to carry on a hotel. Possibly the tone of the hotel and the roomage were not so good.
