Willie O'Dea
Question:26 Mr. O'Dea asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the steps, if any, he intends to take to ensure that this country gets a proportion of the 8.7 million Americans expected to visit Europe this year. [8350/95]
Written Answers. - Tourism Figures.
Tony Killeen
Question:54 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the action, if any, he intends to take to ensure that this country gets a reasonable proportion of the 8.7 million Americans expected to visit Europe this year; and if he has satisfied himself with the current performance and distribution of visitors from the United States. [8329/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 54 together.
1994 was a very successful year for Irish tourism. According to recently released CSO figures, overall visitors from North America increased by almost 17 per cent to 474,000. While final figures for US holidaymakers are not yet available, it is estimated that an increase of some 21 per cent was achieved which compares very favourably with the average 8 per cent growth achieved by our competitors. Ireland also reversed its decline in market share for the first time in eight years. This excellent performance was in no small part due to the US Marketing Initiative (USMI) — a £3 million consumer advertising campaign which was co-funded by the Exchequer, the European Union and the Irish tourism industry.
In 1995 the regular promotional activity undertaken by Bord Fáilte will again be complemented by additional marketing by the Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative — the successor to last year's USMI. This £6.3 million initiative, which is also targeting France, Germany and Britain, involves an additional £2.3 million spend on consumer advertising in the US. I am particularly pleased that the Northern Ireland tourism industry is participating in this year's initiative which is again designed to secure further increases in tourist numbers and revenue in this important market.
In addition, I recently launched the British Airways Holiday Programme in the US. This programme, in conjunction with Bord Fáilte and CIE Tours, will be promoted to 32,000 travel agents and directly to 750,000 consumers throughout the US. British Airways will be selling holidays to Ireland on its 17 direct services to London and many code sharing services with US Air. It is hoped that this programme will attract an extra 10,000 US visitors per annum over the next three years.
Research has shown that the proportion of would-be US visitors to Europe who would make Ireland their first-choice destination increased from 7 per cent to 11 per cent in 1994. I am confident that Irish tourism is well placed to build on the impressive results achieved last year and that the target of an 11 per cent increase in US holidaymakers in 1995 will be achieved.
As regards the distribution of American visitors within Ireland, the House will be aware that tourism development at the regional level is a matter for the regional tourism organisations and Shannon Development. However, information from Bord Fáilte indicates that the average American holidaymaker visits at least three regions while in Ireland with Dublin, Shannon and the south-west traditionally being the most popular destinations.