Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 7 Mar 2002

Vol. 550 No. 2

Written Answers. - Tourism Industry.

Seymour Crawford

Question:

16 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of tourists who visited each of the regions from 1997 to 2001; the plans to achieve a more balanced distribution of tourists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8103/02]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid):

As the Central Statistics Office has yet to finalise overseas visitor numbers, there are, as yet, no regional figures available from Bord Fáilte for 2001. Bord Fáilte estimates that overseas visitors to the seven tourism regions for 2000, the latest year available, are as follows:

Overseas Visitors 2000

	(000s)
Dublin	3,433
Midlands/East	863
South East	1,153
South West	1,768
Shannon	1,128
West	1,313
North West	608
Total Visitors	6,266

I propose to circulate in the Official Report details of visitor numbers, both overseas and domestic for the years 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 as provided by Bord Fáilte.

Overseas Visitors	1997(000s)	1998(000s)	1999(000s)	2000(000s)
Dublin	2,586	2,933	3,149	3,433
Midland/East	783	869	903	863
South East	854	917	870	1,153
South West	1,499	1,455	1,566	1,768
Shannon	1,010	1,066	1,150	1,128
West	1,134	1,071	1,222	1,313
North West	551	602	613	608
Total Visitors	5,007	5,534	5,943	6,266

Domestic Visits	1997(000s)	1998(000s)	1999(000s)	2000(000s)
Dublin	989	1,039	1,157	943
Midlands/East	863	787	932	804
South East	1,243	1,090	1,230	1,120
South West	1,315	1,308	1,350	1,417
Shannon	827	892	821	691
West	1,073	1,323	1,257	1,115
North West	638	548	638	528
Total Domestic	6,850	6,934	7,285	6,556

Growth in overall tourism numbers over the past ten years has been unprecedented, with visitor numbers doubling to more than six million and foreign exchange earnings tripling to £2.5 billion. I recognise that, while all regions have shared in this growth, there have been some significant variations in performance. The Deputy will be well aware of my personal commitment to facilitating a more balanced regional spread of tourism revenue.

I am pleased to say that, last January, I formally launched the tourism product development scheme, which is provided for in the national development plan and has been designed specifically to improve the spatial spread of tourism. The scheme has a particular focus on less-developed areas and makes provision for public sector investment of €130 million in the next five years to help such areas realise their potential and to stimulate new tourism growth areas. Successful realisation of that strategy will be strongly influenced by the delivery by relevant local and other authorities of the necessary infrastructure, facilities and controls.

In addition, comprehensive marketing plans for 2002 recently announced by Tourism Ireland Limited, TIL, and Bord Fáilte also include among their objectives regional development and target a broad mix of tourists of varying age, interest and market origins.

The successful marketing of Ireland abroad plays a key role in encouraging a wide dispersal of visitors throughout the country and throughout the year so that the benefits of tourism can be more evenly spread. TIL's programme budget of €27 million for 2002 for the international marketing of the island of Ireland is the largest ever annual budget allocated for such a purpose. It is supplemented by substantial niche/product marketing funding by Bord Fáilte which was further enhanced by the allocation of an additional €11 million for tourism marketing to the board by my colleague, the Minister for Finance, in the recent budget. I understand that Bord Fáilte is aiming more than half that additional money specifically at expanding regional tourism.

In 2002, Bord Fáilte will implement an intensive marketing campaign in the home market and Northern Ireland providing promotional platforms for the industry. The campaign, which has a budget of €2.1 million, will be particularly strong from February to May and September to November to encourage seasonal and regional extension. It comprises a new advertising campaign, tactical advertising with special offers, complementary publicity and public relations promotions, direct marketing and the distribution of more than 500,000 Discover Ireland brochures enhanced by the use of the recently introduced Discover Ireland website.

While visitor numbers are important, a more accurate picture of tourism performance is portrayed by revenue. For the period 1997 to 2000, total revenue, which includes overseas visitor revenue and domestic tourism revenue, increased by 32%. The level of total revenue growth for five of the regions only varied by 6%, but there was a 30% difference between the highest growth – Dublin – and the lowest – the north-west.