I am pleased to support the Minister's amendment. In my view our tourist industry is reasonably healthy considering the dark and dangerous forces that have been working against it for some time. The industry experienced a slump in recent years but that was not confined to Ireland. There was worldwide depression following the oil crisis in 1973. The recently published OECD report for 1975 shows that after a year of decline in 1974 international tourism staged a recovery in 1975. In the OECD area as a whole arrivals of foreigners into these countries which had fallen by 6 per cent in 1974, rose by 5 per cent in 1975. This is a healthy sign in our recently published report and it shows an upward trend in world tourism which, after all, is the largest single item in world trade.
In this country we did not have to wait for the oil crisis for the fall-off in revenue from the tourist industry. In 1969-70 the troubles erupted in the North of Ireland and everyone of every political persuasion realised at once that the sector of our economy which would suffer most would be the tourist trade. This was proved at the time and it has been the case ever since. A few incidents stand out which dealt body blows, as it were, to the tourist trade. We had the burning of the British Embassy in Dublin where one can of petrol did more damage to our tourist trade than all the economic difficulties we had ever dreamed of. 1972 was the darkest year for our tourism. We cannot help but attribute to the burning of a foreign embassy in our midst this sharp slump in our tourist trade. A year later we had the murder of Senator Billy Fox in Monaghan. We had bombs going off and people being killed in Monaghan and Dublin. This year we had the worst thing of all that could happen in a country, the savage assassination of the British Ambassador and his secretary.
To say that violence in this country does not account for the slump in our tourist trade is contemptible. Day after day and night after night the television screens in Britain carry this catalogue of crime and violence from Ireland. Television, as we all know, has an impact far beyond anything we ever dreamed of. The bombs going off, the people being killed, the destruction of property, the disturbance in the streets, all of these things are vividly brought into the homes of the entire British population. As a result of this there has been a marked decline in the number of visitors coming into this country from Britain. The ordinary man in England when he sees the disturbance and violence that is taking place in the north-eastern part of this country will not be convinced otherwise than that this affects every part of this island. As a result of the violence people in England are very reluctant to come over here and spend their holidays amongst us.
Another element in the reluctance of English people to come to Ireland is the severe economic difficulties at present besetting that country. The fall in the value of the £ makes English people tighten their belts, as it were. Tourism is a sustained and a discretionary income. People can have a little extra money put aside and they can treat themselves to a trip abroad in the summer time. When the recession came in England and harsh economic measures had to be taken there by the Government, this resulted in fewer people in England going abroad; they spent their holidays at home. Therefore, when there is an economic recession in England the tourist industry in this country is bound to suffer as a result. The result has been very marked indeed. The fall in the number of people coming to this country from England in the past five years has been something like 23 per cent but this 23 per cent in numbers represents something like 40 per cent in revenue, and this is certainly to be viewed with concern.
It would be a very neat question indeed to ask how much money Bord Fáilte would require to spend on publicity to off-set the damaging coverage which the violence in Northern Ireland brings on this country. That would be an insurmountable task, but I submit that the Government and Bord Fáilte are doing the best job possible with the resources available in trying to sell this country abroad and to cast aside the violent image which has been painted of us in the television screens throughout Britain and the rest of the world. Ever since Bord Fáilte started promoting tourism and compiling statistics one fact that has emerged is that Britain is our greatest customer. In any given year we have more visitors from Britain than from any other country, but here again we can ask ourselves how many of the people driving around the country in motorcars with GB plates on them are genuine English tourists. Take, for example, a man who has spent a considerable part of his working life in England and who comes on holiday here and spends some time in his old home. Do we call him a tourist? Do we call him an English tourist? I think he would resent that term. The majority of people visiting here from England are Irish-born coming to visit their friends and relatives.
It should be borne in mind that during the past five years there has been immigration into this country. A figure of 12,000 has been put on this. Here again the vast majority of these would be people who emigrated in their youth, spent a great part of their working life in England or elsewhere, have gathered up some money and have decided to come home and set up house and buy a farm or a business and live on the land they were born and raised in. This figure of 12,000 should be taken into account when we talk about decline in the British market for Irish tourism.
The North American and continental markets paint a totally different picture. In 1975 there was a 5 per cent increase in our visitors from America and there was something like an 11 per cent increase in those coming from the Continent. Although the English visitor may be thin on the ground, Bord Fáilte and the tourist industry have done a very good job selling Ireland in America and on the Continent and attracting people here.
A great deal of hard work and dedication to the selling of Ireland abroad has still to be done. Do the Opposition think that if the Government were to double the allocation to Bord Fáilte this would result in a doubling of the number of tourists? I do not think that for a minute. Our tourist industry mushroomed in the sixties. There was a general affluence all over Europe and America. With the technological advance in communications Ireland began to open her doors and make preparations for and invite visitors from abroad. When there was no talk of violence at home and when there was no oil crisis abroad, it was a very simple task for Bord Fáilte to sell the country and attract tourists. They earned the reputation in the late sixties of being the glamour boy in the semi-State line-up. As I said, it was a very pleasant task that was marked with success.
When the troubles erupted in the North the picture changed. Ever since Bord Fáilte have had to look at themselves, examine where they were going and make plans for the future. They have addressed themselves to one area of activity which is proving to be very profitable. It has been established that in the early part of 1975 there was a dramatic rise in the tourist trade. This accelerated growth was attributed to a large extent to Ireland's presidency of the EEC. At that time there was an influx of foreign politicians, diplomats, journalists and staff from these countries. As a direct result our tourist revenue for that period increased.
This is a sharp pointer to an area of activity that Bord Fáilte have been pursuing intensively of late and which will prove to be of great benefit to the country in the end. I am speaking now of catering for international conventions. The number of visitors to conventions here has doubled. Between 1972 and 1975 there were about 40,000. The Convention Bureau of Ireland, which is representative of a broad spectrum of the tourist industry and which operates under the auspices of Bord Fáilte, are undertaking a new campaign to increase the number of people attending conventions to something like 63,000 by 1980. They have set themselves a target of 43,000 for next year and they are very confident that this will be achieved.
International conventions are emerging as a very sure and sound investment by Bord Fáilte. Almost all this activity takes place in the winter. As a result employment is maintained in this country which usually has a seasonal fall-off. It has also been shown that people attending the international conventions spend three or four times as much as the casual visitor. Bord Fáilte and the Convention Bureau of Ireland are to be heartily congratulated on their success in this field. The benefits that accrue from the holding of an international convention bring us valuable publicity, our visitors are shown what the country is like, they sample our hospitality and then go back to their families and friends and speak highly of this country. This is the best type of publicity Bord Fáilte could get. It is better than all the glossy brochures ever published.
Due to the slump Bord Fáilte have taken a very critical look at themselves and produced a national development plan for 1976-80. This plan divides the country into regions which are then divided into zones. It gives detailed analysis of accommodation, visitor origin, visitor spending and general interests in each area. The organisation for the region covering Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath is known as the Lakeland Tourism Organisation. This body, in conjunction with Bord Fáilte, have set out very ambitious plans for their area. They have promoted with local interests to get this region into the tourist industry in the coming years.
I would now like to pay tribute to some of the local authorities in that area who have contributed greatly to the tourist prospects for the area. One local authority which has achieved great things in this field is the Monaghan County Council who set up, financed and got under way a museum which is proving to be a great attraction and has been praised by people from all walks of life. The council got loans from the National Gallery and the Ulster Museum and have put Monaghan on the cultural map. I would also like to pay a tribute to the Cavanagh Society in County Monaghan who are setting up a museum to commemorate the poet's life. I am glad to see that Bord Fáilte are not only approving and praising this project but they will back up their words by giving generous financial assistance. This is a very healthy sign for an area which has not fared well in the tourist trade in recent times.
In the late 'sixties there were a very large number of fishermen visiting Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Sligo for coarse fishing in the lakes and rivers nearby. Since the troubles this has come to an abrupt end. I was very glad to read recently in the report by the Garda Commissioner that in this area, notably Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo and Leitrim, the level of crime is the lowest in the country. That is a healthy sign for tourist prospects for the region. It should be noted that visitors from abroad and our own nationals have nothing whatever to fear coming up into the Border areas. In the debate so far Opposition Deputies have called for more money for Bord Fáilte and more money to be spent in all areas of activity designed to promote tourism. If there were no financial constraints on the Exchequer, or if we were living in times of great economic progress, money could be lashed out in all directions. Unfortunately, we are not living in such times and there are very severe constraints on the Exchequer. Instead of being able to spend money lavishly we have to curtail and prune expenditure. There was no suggestion at all about Bord Fáilte spending the moneys allocated to it more wisely and no suggestion as to what steps it could take to promote tourism without the necessity of spending exorbitant sums. In all the provincial towns Bord Fáilte have leased business premises. It should be possible to function efficiently by having a counter or an office in part of the local post office. Leasing premises is a very expensive way of promoting tourism. Indeed, in some provincial towns the people living in the towns do not know where the tourist offices are located.
There was a suggestion about setting up a national selling agency. There is already a multiplicity of organisations. There are too many organisations and, instead of calling for more, we should be calling for fewer organisations. There would be no necessity for organisations if there was real co-operation and co-ordination by Departments and semi-State bodies and local authorities in promoting tourism.
I believe the standards in our hotels leave a great deal to be desired and I hope Bord Fáilte will use all their powers to raise these standards and give a better quality deal to visitors.
I am very happy to support the Minister's amendment.