Vol. 491 No. 1
49 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the plans, if any, he has to improve tourism in the regions which are not benefiting from the increase in tourists to Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11297/98]
I am pleased to advise the Deputy that all regions have benefited from the increase in tourist numbers to Ireland.
The most recent official statistics published by the Central Statistics Office last month show a healthy 9 per cent increase in overseas visitors for 1997 with revenue increasing by 12 per cent over the same period, recording yet another successful year for Irish tourism. That said, concerns were expressed from some quarters that the increase in tourism growth was not equitably distributed throughout all regions. The available Bord Fáilte estimates on tourism revenue show that growth rates have been achieved in all regions in Ireland in recent years which are better than International and European averages.
However, although all regions have shared in this growth, there has been some variation in performance. With that in mind, I made an extra £5 million available to Bord Fáilte late last year to enable it to increase and intensify its level of promotional and marketing activity for the coming tourist season, with the particular objective of securing a broader regional distribution of tourism revenue. Bord Fáilte, has devised a multi-layered approach which consists of enhancing existing programmes, introducing new regional initiatives and exploiting opportunities which are coming on stream. It is Bord Fáilte's intention to have a strong regional emphasis in the activities proposed and to maximise the return by integrating activity at local, regional and national levels.
I assure the Deputy that Bord Fáilte and the regional tourism authorities will continue to closely monitor the situation to assess if there are perceived difficulties in certain regions and, if so, to see how they can be most effectively addressed.
