Michael D. Higgins
Question:21 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the information available to his Department on the prospects for the tourism industry in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31558/03]
Written Answers. - Tourism Industry.
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:23 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his estimate of tourism figures for 2003 with comparative figures for the past three years; and his plans to improve these figures in 2004. [31442/03]
Finian McGrath
Question:114 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the projected number of foreign tourists to Ireland in 2004. [31844/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 23 and 114 together.
The latest official CSO figures for tourism to Ireland, released last week, show an increase in visitor numbers of almost 5% for the first nine months of the year. If this level of growth is maintained in the final quarter, the tourism agencies will have succeeded in delivering on their highly ambitious targets for the year. It is worth emphasising that these targets were set this time last year before Iraq and SARS emerged as critical setbacks for the tourism sector globally. Taken as they are, these figures indicate that Ireland's performance in 2003 has been positive and represents a strong endorsement of the marketing strategies employed by the tourism agencies.
Performance on a market-by-market basis is also encouraging, with Ireland increasing its share in many of its major tourism markets despite the intense competition this year. Ireland has managed to increase numbers from Britain, where outbound tourism has been flat, by 3.6% in the first nine months of the year. Similarly, in mainland Europe, Ireland appears to be outperforming its main rivals in the German, French, Italian and Spanish markets, with mainland European visitors up by 8.1% for the first nine months of this year. The north American market also appears to be turning the corner with strong growth achieved this year for the first time since 2000.
The overall forecasts for the year from the tourism agencies are also positive with a projected 3.7% increase in overall visitor numbers to 6.1 million, with Britain up 2.6%, mainland Europe up 6.5% and north America up 6%. If this level of growth is achieved, it would represent a good performance in a very difficult year. Comparative overall visitor numbers for 2000, 2001 and 2002 are 6.2 million, 5.8 million and 5.9 million respectively.
Recognising the value to the Irish economy of tourism, I am very pleased to say that Government investment in support of tourism next year will be well over €110 million. Of this, almost €70 million will be spent in support of the marketing and promotion activities of the tourism State agencies, including the largest ever provision for the tourism marketing fund of €31.5 million. This is both a reflection of the importance attached to marketing as a driver of growth and a strong endorsement of the performance of the two agencies in delivering value for this substantial Exchequer investment.
Last week I had the pleasure of launching both Fáilte Ireland's and Tourism Ireland's marketing programmes for 2004. Once again the two tourism State agencies have set an ambitious target of 4.4% growth in visitor numbers for the year ahead. Notwithstanding intense international competition, I am confident, that having set out such a comprehensive suite of marketing activities across all markets and product niches for next year, the industry, with the support of the tourism State agencies can deliver on these ambitious targets.