I am delighted to have an opportunity to contribute to this debate as the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which is not a small title on its own. This is the second Bill to come under the committee's remit, as the Arts Bill has already come through. I welcome the fact that we are moving towards co-ordination because of all the complaints I have on the issue of tourism, the main one is that there are hundreds if not thousands of tourism organisations from village through to national level. They all call themselves tourism organisations but in many ways they are re-inventing the wheel. They do good work in their own right but a lot of money is wasted on administration and chairs, desks, computers and carpets. Many of the issues I would like to see addressed are duplicated while some that need to be dealt with are neglected. Anything that helps towards co-ordination must be important.
This Bill approves the creation of a National Tourism Development Authority to promote tourism within the State and the development of tourism facilities and services which will include training and human resource and marketing skills development, and it has to be welcomed. The Bill's primary purpose is to create the new authority and to merge Bord Fáilte and CERT to create Fáilte Ireland. Therefore, three organisations will still be promoting tourism for the island of Ireland – Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the NITB. The ideal would be that one organisation would assume responsibility for all the issues involved and work as one entity. This is not a huge island. It has four regions, which might be called north, south, east and west, but it is strange to think that there will still be three organisations for promotion and marketing. The word I dislike most with regard to tourism is "marketing" because I think it is the most abused word, and I will explain why in my contribution.
Section 8 of the Bill states that the authority's functions will develop tourist traffic within and to the State. I hope that development will be literal in terms of product development. If there is to be product development, access must be the starting point or people will not get to Ireland. People access Dublin, Shannon, Cork and now Galway because there are flights to those areas, an improved road network and a train service that is being upgraded.
With regard to my area, I thank the current Administration because under the same two partners in Government in the last Administration, the Dublin to Derry air link was put in place which gave my region some chance of improved access. However, a train service from Dublin to Derry is awaited. If I arrived in Dublin as a tourist, I would not like to sit in a car for the five hours it takes to get through the traffic to my region. In any case, that journey should not take five hours because it is no further from Dublin than Cork or Limerick. It is also a better part of the country.
The problem of access has been exacerbated by the Troubles. With a more peaceful climate and the establishment of the Executive, I hope every effort will be made to improve relations and to consider my county as part of the north-west region. With a train service from Dublin to Belfast and from Belfast to Derry, there is no reason why a Dublin to Derry service should not also be provided to increase access to the region.
When I first entered this House, the Bus Éireann schedule book did not indicate on the accompanying map that it was possible to travel by bus to Malin Head. Surely the first place visitors want to reach in a country is the most northerly or southerly point. It took me a year to resolve this problem and the scheduled map now indicates the route to Malin Head. This illustrates a view consistently held in my county that it is not recognised unless somebody complains.
Bord Fáilte and the other agencies should ensure that each part of the country is given the same right of access and that there is the same interest in having it accessed. Sections 14 to 18, inclusive, dealing with the membership of the board, reveal a bias, albeit a positive one, in favour of nominees from the north-west who can become members. This bias should continue with the appointment of the statutory board to ensure the north-west is given a fair chance and an expanded role so that it has the opportunity to catch up with other regions. In this regard I agree with five year membership terms and the rotation of offices on the board. It will prevent board members from becoming too complacent.
Section 8 deals with the marketing and development of tourism facilities and services, including the recruitment, training, education and development of persons for the purpose of employment in the industry. The potential for tourism in my region has not even been touched on. Employment is very important and can be expanded by the tourism trade. The provision of good training by CERT is, therefore, welcome.
However, I continue to be amazed that hotels in my region, an area of high unemployment, are unable to recruit staff. While I do not strongly object to foreign workers in this area for whom work permits are sought, there is still an opportunity for us to value hotel work undertaken by Irish staff. Hotel staff are the first people tourists meet on arriving. In view of this, it is important that there are Irish staff in Irish hotels. It is a basic requirement because tourists rely on them. If they have a bad experience in a hotel or guesthouse it colours the rest of their holiday. Despite the fact that hotels in my region pay the minimum wage, and more, to acquire staff, it is not seen as employment people want to take up, although there are very successful CERT training courses and I have met people who are enthusiastic about the support they received on them. I still await a solution to this problem.
I agree with Deputy Naughten's comments on the grading of tourism accommodation. In the past few years, in excess of 20 hotels have been constructed in Dublin. If we continue to encourage people to go only to Dublin, as a place to visit or work, it will grind to a standstill. It is in the interests of all, including those inside and outside Dublin, to encourage people to go to other parts of the country. My region and some other locations have a deficit in terms of the variety of accommodation available. There is enough expertise in Bord Fáilte, CERT and the other agencies to address this problem. It does not require great study because there is enough material on which to work.
Section 24 provides for funding of €65 million to support enterprises and projects relating to the development of tourism traffic and the development and marketing of tourism facilities and services. While I am pleased that the legislation will be backed by financial resources to ensure that facilities are provided, I question the value of the recent allocation of €30 million to market holidaying at home.
Tour companies in my region have over the years brought busloads of tourists to local hotels once or twice a week. They run package holidays at cost price and while they do not provide a great deal of turnover for the hotels concerned, it keeps them open throughout the year and keeps their staff employed. It also means that tourists will buy drinks and souvenirs in the local pubs and shops. It is a way of keeping small towns and villages alive during the year. These companies tell me if they got a small amount of support with their marketing they could double the numbers they bring to their area. Instead, funding is diverted to activities, such as the marketing holidaying at home programme, which are of dubious use. Those who have a proven ability to bring people to a region should be supported by the relevant tourism organisation, which should ask them how they can be helped to expand their businesses.
I agree with the many complaints throughout the country that tourists are being exploited. I recently visited Galway for a race week and was advised to stay in a certain bed and breakfast establishment. When I asked the price of the room I was told it was beyond my reach, despite the fact that my BMW car was in the driveway. That is a damning indictment of the attitude by some to tourism in this country and we are in trouble if we do not address the problem. I stayed in a different bed and breakfast in the city which was much cheaper and I had a very good experience. Had I been a tourist arriving by chance I would have given serious consideration to not staying in the city. It is very serious when one is told it is beyond one's reach to stay in a bed and breakfast in Ireland.
The Special Olympics will be a huge tourism event.
I commend the people involved in the Special Olympics which will affect many towns throughout the country. They have done considerable work. They were looking for 30,000 volunteers and got 29,980, which is a great sign that volunteerism still exists. There will be a great opportunity for us to welcome people from all over the world and I know we will offer our hospitality. There is already €20 million in benefit in kind. The organisers were looking for €36 million to run the Special Olympics and they have collected €32 million already. The sponsorship of individual athletes, run by the Bank of Ireland, will mean that they will get the rest. I wish the Special Olympics well and hope it will have a long-term, positive impact on tourism.
We have a problem with our environmental image that needs to be dealt with. We need to deal with our litter problem and the fact that people are able to purchase cars that have failed their NCT tests, drive them around for a couple of days or weeks, burn them out and leave them as eyesores. The councils will have to get some support to get rid of the cars.
What image do we want to present? Is our country to be a place where people come and drink until they drop? Is the only positive thing visitors will say that they were able to drink tens of pints? It is grand to link alcohol with our image in some respects, but we seem to be creating an image of ourselves as people who drink until we are senseless and fall down. I enjoy a drink but we need to examine our drinking culture.
Who should we target? We should target more Irish people to attract them on weekend breaks. We will not necessarily get the sun worshipers for two-week holidays, because such people might want to go abroad, but there are people who are prepared to holiday for a long weekend if they get value for money.
I congratulate the Government on putting the car ferry from Magilligan to Greencastle into operation. It has carried 150,000 people in three months. That is what I call marketing. It should be emphasised that if one puts such a facility in place it markets itself. If people have a means of gaining access to a destination they will talk about it and come back and encourage others to come and we will not have to spend a penny on marketing. We will have to spend money on putting up a sign to say where the ferry route starts and ends and state in a brochure that a ferry is available. Spending considerable sums of money is not always necessary. We spent only £6,000 marketing our ferry, but that was after it was established. It sold itself. I would like to see a train route and more cruise liners coming into the Foyle.
We are not looking at our culture. We are not selling the concept of coming to Ireland to learn Irish, but we are selling the concept of coming to Ireland to learn English. We are not giving money to our local bands, which are folding up left, right and centre. It is proven in studies in other parts of the world that people will extend their holiday if their is a cultural event for them to participate in or attend. Therefore, if we gave a little money to our town and village bands, they would play during the tourist season and cause some excitement, thus adding another dimension to our tourism product.
In Donegal we have initiated links with Scotland in terms of putting ferries in operation and I hope that the links will be expanded. Our marketing should take Scotland into account and refer to Celtic holidays. Of all the ventures in Inishowen, golf has been a huge success. It is a golfing Mecca because the car ferry links to Portrush, Portstewart and Castlerock, and one can gain access to the courses around Letterkenny. The Inishowen peninsula has a vast array of golf courses and even Nick Faldo wanted to buy the one in Glashedy.
We still have an opportunity to develop horse racing. I would like to think the Minister will take an interest in it now that the sport is included under the arts and tourism brief. Salmon fishing is a pastime that we have not exploited sufficiently. We are working to allow it achieve its great potential. However, there are plans for a wind farm at the mouth of the Foyle and there is no evidence that it will not interfere with the major salmon fishery if it is situated in the proposed location. I do not want to lose a major fishery at the cost of getting 85 30-storey wind turbines. Everything has a place and there is a place for everything and I am not against green energy, but a balance needs to be struck when one considers the major salmon fishery. At the moment the balance is not in our favour.
The attractions in Inishowen include Malin Head, Grianán of Aileach, the Donagh Cross, St. Mura's burial ground, Cooley Cross, Greencastle Maritime Museum and the planetarium in Greencastle. We have and I hope we will continue to have a large fishing fleet in many of our ports around the coast of Inishowen. These attractions are only a drop in the ocean compared to what we have. We have so much to offer tourists if they get the chance and are encouraged to visit.
There is a vast array of opportunities for marine leisure that we are not yet utilising. Destinations like the Swilly need an overall management plan which will allow us examine commercial activities, aquaculture, angling and the kinds of people who want to go jet-skiing, windsurfing or swimming. We have massive potential but we are not looking at the industry in an holistic fashion. There is so much more we can say, and as chairperson of the committee I hope we will be able to account for what people are doing. I wish the new authority well.
