Vol. 445 No. 6
98 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the steps, if any, he intends to take to combat excessive charging in the tourist market in view of the evidence that many first time visitors regard Ireland as too expensive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [576/94]
The evidence is that first-time visitors regard Ireland as quite good value for money. The 1993 Bord Fáilte Survey of Travellers shows that 93 per cent of first-time visitors regarded Ireland as very good, good or fair value for money, 60 per cent regarded it as good or very good value.
The improvement in recent years can be seen in the comparison of figures for 1987 and 1993. In six years the percentage of visitors regarding Ireland as poor or very poor value for money has dropped from 41 per cent to 9 per cent. For first-time visitors the figure is even lower with only 7 per cent rating Ireland poor value.
This improvement is testimony to the effectiveness of the Government's strategy of investment in improved product quality and managing the economy so as to maintain one of the lowest inflation rates in the EU.
