Joint Committee on Transport and Communications debate -
Wednesday, 18 Jun 2014

Tourism Marketing Strategies: Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland

Chairman

We are meeting with Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland to discuss current trends relating to tourist numbers in Ireland and new marketing strategies to build on the success of The Gathering in 2013. On behalf of the committee I welcome Mr. Shaun Quinn, chief executive officer of Fáilte Ireland, and his colleagues Ms Fiona Monaghan and Mr. Paddy Mathews. I also welcome Mr. Mark Henry, director of central marketing at Tourism Ireland, and Ms Siobhán McManamy, head of co-operative marketing at Tourism Ireland. Yesterday I met the CEO of Tourism Ireland, Mr. Niall Gibbons, who is on his way to Canada as we speak. He gave me a briefing, but the witnesses will give the full story today.

By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. If witnesses are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. Submissions and statements made in this committee meeting will be published on the Oireachtas website. I remind members of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official by name in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I now call on Mr. Shaun Quinn to make his opening statement.

Mr. Shaun Quinn

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for this opportunity to contribute to this morning's deliberations. With the permission of the Chairman I will read a brief statement on the current performance of tourism in Ireland, highlighting the work we are undertaking on the development side.

When I met with the committee in July of last year, I was anxious to emphasise that Fáilte Ireland believed tourism was turning a corner after a number of very difficult seasons. After struggling to survive since the onset of the economic downturn, a growing number of tourism businesses were in recovery mode. I am happy to confirm that the industry is improving and that growth in the tourism sector has been generally quite robust in the past year. The mood in the industry is particularly upbeat just now.

There are a number of aspects to the recovery taking place. It is driven principally by a recovery in overseas markets, and my colleague Mr. Mark Henry will go into more detail on this. Initially this applied to north America and continental Europe, but more recently the British market has improved too. The domestic market, on which many businesses are perhaps too dependent, is flat, which not surprising given the ongoing economic adjustment.

The Gathering also provided a much-needed boost and a valuable platform from which to promote Ireland to potential holidaymakers, as well as to family and friends, last year. An independent economic assessment of The Gathering has now been completed and estimates the impact to be up to 250,000 additional visitors last year. This contributed between €160 million and €200 million to the economy. This is apart from the obvious social impact of the 5,000 or so gatherings organised by communities. Members may be aware that Fáilte Ireland has entered into a commitment with local authorities and IPB Insurance to provide a €1 million fund each year for three years to support local communities to build on the legacy of The Gathering by continuing to organise key events linking with the diaspora. This was indicated by the Chairman at the outset.

Towards the end of last year some commentators actually believed that the success of The Gathering may have pulled business from 2014 back into 2013. This does not appear to have been the case, judging by the strong performance of most markets to date. Looking into the near distance, tourism industry sentiment is buoyant and upbeat and many operators are anticipating further growth this year. There are a number of factors contributing to this outlook. It is believed that domestic and key global economies are slowly improving, with a sense that visitors are holidaying more and spending more.

Three or four times a year we carry out a survey of members of the tourism industry to gauge sentiment and views on the health of the sector. The latest survey is now available and will be published shortly. I will share a few of the more relevant insights with the committee.

According to our barometer, three quarters of tourism enterprises anticipate an increase in business in the months ahead. To put that in perspective, in 2008 only 14% of respondents were in that position. This level of optimism is the highest we have seen since the downturn. Every sector surveyed is upbeat, but positive sentiment is strongest within the hotel sector. This optimism is based on trading conditions so far this year. For example, the majority of accommodation operators report an increase in visitors compared to the same period last year. Again, hotels remain the strongest sector. In addition to visitor numbers, revenue is improving and this is obviously helping the bottom line, with about half of the respondents reporting an increase in profitability so far this year.

The survey makes other key points. For example, there has been a decent start to the season for the self-catering sector, and hostels are performing well. A large increase in business is expected for visitor attractions, and North America is proving strong for golf tourism. There has been a reasonable improvement in the restaurant trade. Concerns remain around costs, specifically fuel and energy. However, positive factors include the retention of the 9% VAT rate, the Wild Atlantic Way, the legacy of The Gathering and the level of air access capacity. The benefit of the growth in tourism is spreading around the country. Performance in Dublin is strongest, as has been the case in the past, but this year most regions are experiencing a much better performance.

This growth in tourism is also reflected in employment numbers. According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, last year there was a 14% increase in employment in the tourism industry in the areas of accommodation and food services. This represents an extra 17,000 jobs since 2012. These figures are based on a narrow definition of the tourism industry. Fáilte Ireland believes some 200,000 people are employed in tourism, and current trends suggest this could grow by 68,000 this year.

In short, revenue and employment numbers are going up, but the key aspect is how we maintain the momentum.

Regarding the forces driving competitiveness, there is little doubt but that our ability to recover market share at a faster rate than initially expected comes down not only to improving market conditions but also to our improving competitive position. Our value for money rating as a tourist destination has continued to move upwards for the visitors who come here and, thankfully, that message is beginning to percolate through in our overseas markets to those who have yet to come here. We seem to be shaking off the costly tag we acquired during the Celtic tiger era. That is due to a number of factors: first, the sacrifices made by many in the industry in getting costs down and, second, the Government’s decision to lower the VAT rate to 9%, which has been crucial to strengthening the competitiveness of Irish tourism.

Pressure points remain, including rising utility costs, local authority rates and debt repayments. As the market recovers and more people come, there will be a tendency for prices to rise because it is a free market, but in that context, we must remain vigilant on the issue of value for money relative to our competitors and make sure we do not repeat the failings of the past if we are to sustain the recovery.

The second issue facing the industry is having a deeper understanding of the changing consumer and specifically who we are targeting. It is a dynamic marketplace which is continually responding to change. In the past two years, in collaboration with our colleagues in Tourism Ireland, we have adopted a more strategic approach to identifying and defining customers overseas who are our best prospects, the experiences they are looking for and how we can provide them. It is a new way of targeting growth, based on a new segmentation model, and it very much guides everything we do. The Wild Atlantic Way is, in part, a response to that approach. The emphasis of these new models is on customer motivations, rather than demographics; therefore, rather than presuming everybody of a certain age or social class wants the same thing from a holiday, the new model looks at the triggers. The approach targets the groups within our overseas markets with the greatest potential to come here. This research-based targeting of customers requires a rigorous disciplined approach and needs to be continued even as the market recovers. In the past year we have been very active with Tourism Ireland in sharing these insights with our industry partners.

An added challenge for the industry because this is a very small destination on the international stage is achieving stand-out in a very noisy and cluttered market. We believe this is best achieved with projects of scale and singularity such as the Wild Atlantic Way which can capture the imagination of targeted customers and resonate with their motivations. That is something local authorities along the west coast are supporting as we roll out the Wild Atlantic Way concept. With their help, we have managed to complete our signage programme for what is now the longest themed touring route in the world. Next, we will put in place a large number of discovery points and associated touring facilities with a specific grant allocation announced in last year’s budget. Businesses and communities along the west coast are very excited by this development because it gives them a mechanism to reposition the west in a way that will resonate with our target customers. This is a priority in marketing for our Tourism Ireland colleagues, to which Mr. Henry will probably refer.

In a similar fashion we are taking a fresh look at Dublin. Despite the fact that it has been performing well in the corporate sector, we need to look at how it is branded and marketed because many tourists who come to Ireland spend a night or two in Dublin, either at the beginning or the end of their holiday. It is a very important part of the product. We are developing a network of discovery trails throughout the city and working with the local authorities in the county of Dublin and the local industry to open up the experience to what we call a city plus experience.

As with the Wild Atlantic Way, we are also scoping a new proposition for the east and south of the country based on the rich array of cultural and heritage assets from the north east, the midlands, the south east to Cork. This comes on foot of significant investments we have made in areas such as Kilkenny, Waterford and Cork city, to name but a few.

We have played a leading role in driving significant investment in tourism in the past five years. Approximately €120 million in capital has been invested in almost 60 major projects. This year we will be investing approximately €8 million in capital on the Wild Atlantic Way. As things improve in the sector, it might be tempting to ease up on such investment, but our competitors are very aggressive and we must continue to invest wisely to ensure our tourism product is in a position to compete and we can earn our fair share of the pie. On the Internet and in the online era, we are living in a rapidly changing world. Travel and tourism has been one of the areas most affected by this new technology. Developments in digital marketing and selling continue to transform the manner in which consumers consider and choose a holiday. Not surprisingly, our competitors in other destinations continue to invest. This is where Ireland must invest too and an area in which we are not very well positioned in terms of our entire offering is digital channels. This is not about tourist boards but about individual tourism businesses and how they leverage the power of the Internet and social media.

Fáilte Ireland shares the optimism pervading the tourism industry, but we are not complacent. We are focusing on areas in which we believe visitor numbers will grow further and confident that if the sector continues to maintain the current balance of quality and value it provides, we can sustain further growth. Tourism can provide economic growth, revenue and jobs with a regional spread, unlike most other sectors. It provides employment in areas in which foreign direct investment cannot. As many members will know from their constituencies, what is good for tourism is good for Ireland. We in Fáilte Ireland will be doing our best to ensure things get even better.

Mr. Mark Henry

I thank the Chairman and the members for giving me the opportunity to address the joint committee. I am the central marketing director at Tourism Ireland. I am here to represent our chief executive, Mr. Niall Gibbons, who met the Chairman yesterday and has asked me to pass on his apologies owing to his attendance at overseas promotions in Canada. I am joined by Ms Siobhán McManamy, our head of co-operative marketing.

As members will know, Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas. The organisation was established in one of the six areas in which there would be co-operation under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement. We work closely with the two tourist boards on the island of Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The principal objectives of the company are to increase tourism revenue and numbers to the island of Ireland and support Northern Ireland to realise its tourism potential. We carry out extensive destination marketing campaigns in key source markets for tourism to the island of Ireland. Our major promotional effort is focused on the four key markets that together deliver the majority of overseas visitors - Great Britain, the United States, Germany and France. In addition, we are rolling out trade marketing and publicity campaigns in a further 18 markets.

Overseas tourism is one of Ireland’s largest indigenous industries. It accounts for almost 60% of all tourism revenue and has the capacity to deliver even more for the economies on the island. Last year was another positive one for tourism. Eight million overseas visitors came to the island of Ireland, an increase of 7% on the figure for 2012, contributing revenue of approximately €3.9 billion, an increase of 12% for the economies on the island. Holidaymaker numbers grew strongly by 9% and contributed more than €1.7 billion in revenue. This growth was driven by strong increases in visitor numbers from all of our market areas worldwide. In fact, we saw the highest number of visitors ever in 2013 from North America, Germany, France, Spain and our long-haul markets, with visitors from Australia, in particular, driving that growth. It was also particularly encouraging to see a return to growth of 7% from the British market.

Working closely with Fáilte Ireland, The Gathering was a major focus of Tourism Ireland’s promotions throughout 2013. It saw huge engagement with the Diaspora worldwide and an increased focus on the promotion of roots tourism by Tourism Ireland. Our international marketing of The Gathering Ireland reached an estimated 200 million people worldwide through a wide range of media and promotional activities, including television and print advertising, as well as an innovative digital strategy highlighting the many great reasons to visit Ireland during the year. Publicity was an integral element of the promotional programme; 1,500 international journalists visited during the year and then wrote and broadcast extensively about Ireland and The Gathering, generating an estimated €75 million in positive publicity specifically for The Gathering worldwide. Our success in promoting The Gathering was recognised by the Marketing Institute of Ireland last month when Tourism Ireland received the award for the most successful international marketing campaign of the year by an Irish organisation.

In order to capitalise on the increasingly central role of the Internet in travel and holiday planning, as my colleague, Mr. Quinn mentioned, Tourism Ireland invests heavily in digital marketing. Our suite of international websites attracted 13.5 million unique visitors in 2013 and Ireland.com has been rolled out in 30 markets around the world in ten languages. We have grown our Facebook fan base from a couple of thousand at the beginning of 2010 to over 2.2 million today, giving us the fourth largest tourist board presence after Australia, the United States and Britain.

In consultation with industry partners, Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, we have developed a strategy and an action plan to return the British market, our largest and most important, to sustained growth. These were rolled out during 2013, with promotions targeting new groups that were receptive to the type of experience Ireland was best placed to offer. I refer to the culturally curious, social energiser and great escaper segments.

The most recent figures for overseas travel to the Republic of Ireland show growth of 9% for the period January to April 2014 by comparison with the same period in 2013. There was a strong increase in British visitor numbers of 14% during this period and growth from other important tourism markets, including North America and other long-haul markets. In the first quarter alone, the number of holidaymakers specifically increased by 8%. However, it should be said attractions and accommodation providers in urban centres and tourism hot spots are generally more buoyant than rural locations.

This year we undertook an extensive St. Patrick’s Day marketing programme. Our annual Global Greening initiative has gone from strength to strength, from its beginnings in 2010, with just the Sydney Opera House going green, to this year when more than 100 landmark buildings and iconic sites turned a shade of green for our national day, including sites such as the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx in Egypt, the Treasury in the ancient city of Petra and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. At least one part of Brazil is turning green this year.

Another key focus in the early part of the year was on promoting the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia which took place in May. This highly anticipated event was a tremendous success, bringing positive messages and showcasing our spectacular scenery to some 775 million viewers in 164 countries.

We are placing a major focus on touring holidays this year, in particular highlighting the Wild Atlantic Way. As members know, it is Ireland’s first long distance touring route, stretching from the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal all the way to Kinsale, County Cork. Let me give some examples of the ways in which we are promoting the Wild Atlantic Way in key overseas markets. In Britain television advertisements highlighting the Wild Atlantic Way have been airing across the UK television networks, reaching an audience of some 14 million consumers. In the United States a national television campaign featuring the Wild Atlantic Way reached millions of potential American visitors earlier this year. Advertisements promoting the Wild Atlantic Way are running in over 2,600 cinemas throughout France and will reach over 5 million cinemagoers. In Germany this spring almost 700,000 commuters saw Wild Atlantic Way advertisements on large illuminated posters that were prominently displayed at bus and tram stops in the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf. These are just a few examples; I could give many others. Our promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way will continue throughout 2014 and beyond.

The first ever designation of Limerick as the national city of culture presents Tourism Ireland with a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness of the city around the world this year as a cultural and historic destination. We are highlighting Limerick in our promotions, taking every opportunity to leverage the tourism benefits of this year-long celebration of culture for the city. The organisation has an extra special focus on Limerick in its promotional programmes in Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Canada.

We are working closely with Fáilte Ireland to promote overseas other regions in Ireland through, for example, initiatives such as Dublin’s Doorstep which highlights the counties of Meath, Kildare, Laois and their environs, featuring attractions such as the Boyne Valley touring route and the Kildare-Wicklow grand tour route. We are also highlighting the fact that Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, celebrating its 1,100th anniversary this year. Attractions such as the Viking Triangle in Waterford and festivals such as the Waterford Food Festival, Wexford Festival Opera, the Cork Jazz Festival and Kilkenny Cat Laughs Comedy Festival also feature as part of our promotional activity overseas.

We are specifically building on the legacy of The Gathering this year, continuing to reach out to the Diaspora across the world through, for example, participation in events such as “Who Do you Think You Are? Live”, the family history and genealogy event in Britain; sponsorship of Irish-American events; advertorials in publications such as The Irish Post and Irish America magazine; and our own Ireland Family History Facebook page which was set up last year to connect with those with Irish heritage and which will remain a central focus of our marketing of Ireland in Britain and elsewhere around the world.

The high-yield business tourism sector continues to be an extremely important focus of our marketing efforts. In Britain, for example, we will have a presence at 11 key events during 2014, including The Meetings Show in the Olympia in London in July. Presentations, workshops and networking events, as well as familiarisation visits for influential corporate meetings and incentive buyers, are the mainstay of our activity in this area.

While the majority of our overseas visitors come from the core markets of Great Britain, North America and mainland Europe, we have also expanded our focus beyond these markets to look to the long-term opportunities presented by markets such as China, India and the Middle East. Visitors from long-haul markets stay twice as long as the average holidaymaker and are more likely to travel throughout the island and make a significant economic contribution to numerous tourism sectors. We welcome the launch on Monday last of a joint visa initiative between Ireland and the United Kingdom which will commence this autumn with China and India. We will be working closely with our colleagues in VisitBritain to leverage the benefits of the new scheme in these markets. Of course, since this is an island, convenient and competitive air and sea connectivity is vital if we are to continue to grow overseas tourism numbers to Ireland.

Last year saw a number of positive developments, including a 26% increase in the number of airline seats between the United States and Ireland for the peak season, from June to August. Announcements of new and additional services – by both air and sea carriers – for 2014 augur well for the continuing success of overseas tourism. Total available capacity to the Republic of Ireland for the peak summer season in 2014 is estimated to be up 6% on last summer, with double digit increases from France, Germany, North America and the Middle East.

We continue to invest in co-operative marketing activity with air and sea carriers in key markets to stimulate demand for services into Ireland. A busy programme of co-operative campaigns with carriers has been under way this year, highlighting ease of access and great fares. We are also in dialogue with airports, seaports and carriers on an ongoing basis to identify opportunities and case-make for the introduction of new services from key markets.

Having experienced three years of growth in the number of leisure visitors to Ireland, we are optimistic about the potential for future growth in the years ahead. The sectoral targets we are working towards will see the island of Ireland welcome 8.9 million visitors per year by 2016, generating almost €4.5 billion in revenue. This will include almost 4.3 million holidaymakers, generating €2.7 billion in revenue.

I hope this introductory statement has given members a flavour of the extensive marketing programmes Tourism Ireland has in place to grow overseas tourism to Ireland in the months and years ahead. We will continue to work closely with our tourism partners, both at home and overseas, to achieve our common objectives and help to drive economic regeneration, growth and, ultimately, jobs.

Chairman

Before I hand over to members, I will make a couple of observations. Both Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland paint a very positive picture. It appears as if the tourism figures will return very shortly to those for 2007 and 2008. There are also challenges which both delegates have outlined. These concern dispersing tourists to Ireland geographically and having them arrive throughout the year. The Wild Atlantic Way and other initiatives that have been mentioned are important in this regard.

One reason for the decline in tourists to Ireland was the economic crash throughout Europe and the rest of the world and another was that we had lost competitiveness. The abolition of the travel tax and the reduction in the VAT rate have helped and there has been very good value in the past three or four years. Is there a danger that we will revisit the same issues that arose in the past? The delegates stated pressure in Dublin and other main centres was building again. We all hear anecdotal evidence of increases in hotel accommodation costs. Is this a danger? Can we protect against the problems that contributed to the decline in the past?

On the question of the shoulder season, figures suggest 100,000 people from outside the State will be arriving for the Garth Brooks concerts. God help anyone coming for a casual holiday at that time and looking for accommodation around Dublin. Has there been engagement with promoters or others involved in the industry with a view to holding conferences and other events in the autumn or early in the year so as to disperse tourists? What efforts are being made in that regard?

Mr. Quinn stated Fáilte Ireland had entered a commitment with local authorities, worth €1 million, for marketing in the next three years. Is this an additional allocation or does it represent a different way of proceeding?

I start with those few observations and questions.

Mr. Mark Henry

I am happy to start. The Chairman mentioned three different issues, the regional distribution of tourism, the seasonal distribution of tourism, and competitiveness. In terms of competitiveness, the consumer last year gave us excellent feedback to the effect that we have seen several years of price improvements. The visitor attitude survey to which Mr. Quinn referred shows that consumers are very positive about the value they are now getting. I welcome some of the comments last week by the chairman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation who noted that they lost the run of themselves - I think that is the phrase he used - in the industry in terms of pricing at the peak in 2007. That is welcome. We are in a good place but we have to safeguard it. In Tourism Ireland, we are picking up some anecdotal feedback, particularly from tour operators who are looking to contract forward beyond this summer, that prices are going up. Double digit price increases are being sought for accommodation especially in the major urban centres that tourists want to visit. We have reflected the concern to the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation and other industry members that it is important we do not get ourselves back to the position we were in. It is one to watch.

The Chairman referred to geographical or regional distribution. The keys to regional and seasonal spread are in the same vein. I mentioned the Wild Atlantic Way as one of our key focuses. It gives people strong and wonderful reasons not just to take the day trip from Dublin, where they may choose to base themselves, to the Cliffs of Moher and back by midnight, but rather to stay in the west and explore it. We see that as our key contribution to addressing regional distribution this year. It is ongoing. More regional access is also important. People will stay near where they fly into and out of. The growth in Shannon and Cork access is an important aspect of addressing that. My colleague, Ms McManamy, may talk about how we work to develop business cases with airlines for additional access.

Chairman

Knock Airport might be included there.

Mr. Mark Henry

I apologise, Knock indeed. Festivals and events are also key, particularly to the shoulder season. Ms McManamy may wish to touch on that.

Ms Siobhán McManamy

We have seen that growth in and access to all regional airports this year has created opportunities to which the industry has responded. One is looking at things like growth in festivals and events taking place from September to November. One sees significant Limerick city of culture events every weekend in September, which allows us to spread the season. We are also seeing initiatives in Mayo and Kerry where the industry is responding with good value offerings. We are working with the carriers to present those to the overseas visitor.

Given what we have done this year with the carriers, the peak is tending to look after itself. We are therefore increasing our efforts in the shoulder season and on regional routes. The welcome news that the Berlin and Paris routes into Shannon will continue over the winter allows us to build that momentum. Increasingly, festivals and events provide reasons to travel which, matched with a quick, easy and competitive mode of access, allows us to extend the season.

Mr. Shaun Quinn

Picking up on some of those points, I note that on the ground value for money increased about three or four years ago, but it has taken that long for the message to get out into the market. One can lose it very quickly and it can take a long time to get it back. I do not see a danger that we are going to go into reverse gear across the country at the moment, but there is a particular issue in Dublin between the canals around capacity at hotels. Occupancy is over 90%, which drives it. The knock-on concern would be that it could in some way tarnish the image of more competitive parts of the country where this is not happening - it has been multiple speed. That is an issue that will probably be rectified by the market. It is hard to believe that one might be looking for more hotels so soon in any part of the country, but Dublin certainly has an issue.

Regionality and seasonality are issues that have been with us for a number of years. Despite the total growth in numbers, we have probably not effected the change we would like to see in terms of regional spread and seasonality. In some parts of the country, the season is only six weeks. If one could extend that by a few weeks either way, one could sustain a number of extra jobs. Ms McManamy mentioned festivals and events and we would like to see more of them taking place in the shoulders. Many of them are taking place in the peak when people are coming anyway. If we could get a greater spread, it would be good.

Regional spread was behind our thinking when we conceived of the Wild Atlantic Way as a way to draw people and give them a reason to travel. It has resonated very well in the market so far. We think it will be very successful but, equally, we want to replicate it in the south and east. There is great opportunity and the early indications are that the messages going out on the west, south and east are resonating. We are on a rising platform.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I welcome the presentations from both organisations. I thank the witnesses for providing us with an update on the work they are doing and congratulate them on the success they have achieved over the last couple of difficult trading years.

I recognise that both bodies have dealt with the value-for-money issue the market faces. There is still a difficulty with hotels. Mr. Quinn referred to it when he said the solution may be to put more hotel rooms into the area. Perhaps, that can happen and hotels can be built more cheaply than before. My contact with the industry suggests that it is not fair to say hoteliers are coining it as they try to increase the price. Many of them are struggling. The private ones are struggling in competition with what they refer to as the "NAMA hotels", which is a problem that is probably resolving itself as NAMA sells on its assets to larger institutions which will want to see an immediate return on their investments. There is a difficult situation for both private and institutional hotel owners currently. They will have to see some level of increase to be sustainable. The market will have to bear that to some extent. Mr. Quinn referred to the city between the canals. There is no doubt that if one looks at comparable city destinations internationally, Dublin continues to represent fairly good value for money by comparison even in the high season. There are not too many other cities in Europe where one can obtain room rates at less than €100.

I was taken by Mr. Quinn's reference to the deeper understanding of the customer and his organisation's efforts in that regard. It is particularly good. He referred to the experience rather than to look at the demographic. That is right. Does Fáilte Ireland have any long-term projects in mind on the creation of attractions which might not be synonymous with Ireland to cater for the experiences that are emerging or which already exist? I am thinking of the obvious issue that Ireland is not really seen as a family holiday destination for many reasons, principally because of the weather. Yet, people will go camping to Brittany over the summer where they are not guaranteed weather much better than one would get in parts of the south east and mid-west. Has work been done to develop a more major attraction that might focus on or target the family market?

I acknowledge that there implications and issues on investment and its source. Mr. Quinn is right to say that we must continue to invest in the product, which we do. He referred to the investment of €8 million in the capital infrastructure for the Wild Atlantic Way and a total of €120 million which has been invested in almost 60 significant capital projects. I hope that as the State agency charged with tourism development, Fáilte Ireland is knocking on the door of Government looking for more capital investment on an ongoing basis. I acknowledge that to some extent it must cut its expectations based on what it anticipates is available. However, an agency like Fáilte Ireland should push the boat out continuously in terms of new ideas and force Government to move somewhat there. While the agency has been doing that very well, I ask what the next phase is and what ideas it has in that regard.

In respect of Tourism Ireland's marketing spend, what kind of analysis is carried by Tourism Ireland that gives it a good understanding of value for money in terms of the investment it makes based on trends from the various different markets? Does it carry out analysis on that and if so, could Mr. Henry share some of it with us? Is it moving from the more traditional spend towards online? What is the shift there and how does Mr. Henry see that going with all the various opportunities that seem to exist in that online world?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

I agree with the Deputy's opening comment about Dublin because one must compare like with like. In comparing capital cities, Dublin is still very good value. There is a balance to be struck. In order to sustain a business, it must be profitable.

In terms of the product, both Mr. Henry and I spoke earlier about how we are targeting consumers. It is a very interesting piece of work that is ongoing. We have gone out to the core markets to look at the key segments. There are three segments that seem to be resonating most with Ireland. One is a young segment which is looking for a city break, which is typically Dublin. It is a small enough segment called Social Energisers. Another segment is called Great Escapers, which is composed of people in their thirties with very young children who come here looking to get away from it all. This is typically a west of Ireland type route. The third segment is called the Culturally Curious, which is composed of older people who do not bring children with them, are better educated, have higher incomes and are looking to understand the heritage and culture of a destination. This plays into the south and east as well as the west coast to some extent.

When we carried out the analysis, we found that as a country, we do not score on family-type holidays. As a consequence of that research, the bulk of the money we have been investing has been in playing to what we call our core strengths. These include the natural heritage, which is the landscape and seascape. An example would the Wild Atlantic Way. Another core strength is the built heritage, which is synonymous with the south and east, Dublin and cultural heritage. That is where the money has been invested in the past number of years. When I talk about €120 million, we have invested in those areas we are known for and which people are interested in experiencing. We are not shutting our minds to other possibilities. We are currently looking at this window from here to 2020 - possibly a new capital programme. We would be very open to innovative ideas.

The key thing for us in looking at capital projects is that people can demonstrate that there is a market for it, the project will wash its face and they will not be coming back after a number of years looking for top-up State funding just to keep going because we cannot really have that. When one sees a market recovering like it currently is, one will see investors coming back into it. They know there is money to be made and that there may be some grant support. We are open to that. I do not think the weather is necessarily a limiting factor.

Mr. Mark Henry

There are two questions there. In respect of the analysis of the effectiveness of what we are doing, we spend in the order of €500,000 on research every year out of our budget of around €35 million for marketing. We spend a fair amount on analysis. Part of it is understanding the customer and the other bit is assessing our competitive positioning and our communications and how they perform.

We are just getting the research for this year in but research we saw from last year emphasises the point that Ireland is very well positioned so a key metric for us is what the interest in holidaying in Ireland is versus other destinations. In all of our top four markets, Ireland would be in the top ten places that people want to holiday in at some point in the future if not in the next 12 months. In some of those countries, such as the US and France, we would be up there in fourth or fifth position of all the places they would like to holiday in. That is a key metric for us regarding generating interest in visiting. We then specifically address the programmes and the return on investment we get for every euro we spend. Our most recent study last year showed us achieving in the order of a €40 to €1 return for every euro we are spending, which compares quite favourably to other tourist boards for which that information is available.

We are strong believers in the shift to digital. As has been flagged in some of the comments, we are leaders in terms of that investment compared to other tourist boards. The reason we made that choice is because consumer research would say that aside the word of family and friends, the Internet is now the number one influencer on destination choice - not even simply the planning or booking but the actual choice of where to go. People turn to the Internet rather than guidebooks in the first instance. How is that mirrored in our activity? Last year, in delivering this new strategy we developed in Great Britain, we moved off most of the TV advertising and switched a huge chunk to YouTube and advertising where we could target the social energisers and the culturally curious very clearly and directly with relevant messages that were discrete to them. I spoke about our investment in social media building up more than 2.2 million Facebook fans. Again, research there would show that this is a very valuable tool for us because people are asking us to communicate to them daily and to give them some information on Ireland. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to get a message to them. Two-thirds of those people we surveyed said that since they had become a follower of Ireland on Facebook, they would be more likely to go there to holiday because they did not know there was so much going on and they found something of interest to them. We have a specific ambition in the corporate plan we have just completed for 2014 to 2016 relating to the digital space. Currently, we send about one million warm leads off our digital platforms to industry websites. Our ambition is to more than double that by 2016. Despite having a challenging resource environment, we have the ambition to drive efficiency and effectiveness and to make that money go further for industry over the next three years.

Deputy Noel Harrington

I welcome the presentations from Mr. Quinn and Mr. Henry and congratulate both organisations on achieving very encouraging results albeit from a low base from the peak of 2008. It is encouraging to see a recovery in what is a hugely important industry for the country. The figures on the domestic tourism side need a bit of a boost. I do not know what role Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have played in attracting domestic and international corporate convention tourism. Could we do more there? Could Mr. Quinn and Mr. Henry identify issues where there is a real blockage in terms of attracting that type of visitor? They are high end and would be welcome visitors.

I am fortunate to live on the Beara peninsula in west Cork on the Wild Atlantic Way route. Every time I come to Dublin, I am amazed by the amount of young people from different countries working in Dublin who constitute a market in a domestic sense. I am reflecting the views of people where I live. Would there be any value in going to a large multinational, particularly in Dublin, and saying to its workforce that even though they are working in Dublin, they are young, energetic and mobile and there is another Ireland out there? There could be a market here. The weekend break typically deals with Dublin but this is a cohort of people who might consider a weekend break away from Dublin. There are tens of thousands of people who might avail of this. We do not see them.

I congratulate all those who work on the Wild Atlantic Way. I live on it and believe it is going to be an iconic tourism destination. The signage, work, effort and investment so far have been very welcome. I do have one criticism. It is one I have mentioned in some meetings I have had with local authorities and the Wild Atlantic Way and concerns the app.

Quite frankly, one could read the entire app in the time it took to make half the presentation this morning. I suggest that the Wild Atlantic Way app directs users to local businesses and tourism initiatives such as hotels, guesthouses, restaurants or whatever. The app is very limited but perhaps that is due to a lack of resources. It has so much potential. It is too one dimensional and much more work could be done with it. As Mr. Henry has said, the people who travel to Ireland are no less engaged with their digital devices than we are. They take them with them and will look at them whether it is in Inishowen, Malin Head, Mizen Head or the Cliffs of Moher. As they travel around they will check their digital devices for information such as where to get a meal, places to stay, prices and menus. They will also want to know how to get to a particular viewing point, directions for same and how long it will take walking, driving or whatever to reach that destination. The app has more potential which should be developed.

Mr. Quinn will speak later today at the marine conference being held at Dublin Castle. The following matter might be worth looking at. He touched on the subject himself when he mentioned the heritage issue of the south and east, marine archaeology and the heritage link-up one could have from Wexford to Spike Island. People will want to access such a heritage product and it is not particularly seasonal. As he mentioned, the initiative could be expanded on the shoulders of other initiatives. Will Fáilte Ireland develop and Tourism Ireland market the initiative? It would bring in the type of customer he mentioned - the older client.

I also note that Fáilte Ireland's current strategy is to dispose of assets and that it has begun to get out of the property game. I suggest it deals with that job carefully. I know there are some places in west Cork, in my constituency, where it is looking at disposing assets. I hope that if it is doing so, it will keep in mind the strategic nature of those assets in terms of tourism and ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands. I hope they will be maintained, inasmuch as the agency can do so, for tourism related initiatives. That would be very important. The sites are established and have been branded tourism assets which I hope is what they will remain. I will discuss some specific locations that I am concerned about with Fáilte Ireland in due course.

Either Fáilte Ireland or Tourism Ireland touched on the issue of the 9% VAT rate. I would like to think that it was maintained because the tourism sector lobbied vigorously to maintain the rate. Are there further initiatives planned? I do not believe the organisations see the rate as an end in itself in terms of what the Government can do to stimulate the industry. We are entering negotiations now and the budget will take place later on in the year. Are there specific issues that could stimulate the sector?

My final questions are for Tourism Ireland. Has it done any projections on the loosening up of visa requirements for the UK from China and India? The potential to do so was touched on in the presentation. Has anything been done to progress the matter? Is the process only beginning?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

The Deputy has raised a number of issues and his points about the marine sector were very well made. Despite the fact we are an island, we do not tend to play up our coastline. I may leave the issues raised about the Wild Atlantic Way and, possibly, the marine to my colleagues, Ms Monaghan and Mr. Paddy Matthews, who live and breathe the project because they are largely responsible for where it is today.

The Deputy began by talking about the domestic market, which is incredibly important, particularly west of the Shannon where a very high proportion of bed nights are domestic. While we really want to grow the international business, we know we cannot do it overnight. Therefore, getting as much growth as we can into the domestic market is incredibly important and we pursued a similar approach in Ireland late last year. As we did with Tourism Ireland previously, we segmented the market and identified three segments for growth. Our new marketing campaign is under way and the workshops we are running with the trade focus in on the three segments because we believe that there is more growth. The Deputy's point was very well made. One cannot take one's foot off the pedal in terms of the domestic market. Even the good weather can change people's minds about the domestic market and we hope it will have a very positive impact this year.

Similarly, in the area of corporate and business tourism, which is incredibly important to the industry, not everywhere in the country, but certainly in the larger urban centres, we are very involved in bringing large conferences to Ireland. It is a growth area which has grown in the past three or four years and is growing again. We have the infrastructure. For example, the National Convention Centre Dublin allows us to play in a bigger league than we have never been in before. That does not mean the business only goes to that location, but by virtue of having the facility, it puts Ireland in a better place.

With regard to the disposal of assets, we can talk about the specific issues another time. In the main, we do not run tourist attractions. We inherited a number of properties throughout the country and we are in the process of disposing of some of them. It is a disposal of State assets so we comply with all the regulations. I will keep the Deputy's point in mind and we can discuss specific issues later.

With regard to the VAT rate and other measures, we could easily say the agencies should be given more money, but we support any measures that will keep down the cost of doing business, which is what the VAT rate and travel tax have done. There are ongoing issues such as inequitable local authority rates or whatever, fuel costs and whatnot which will be raised by the industry. We support anything that can be done, even across the public sector, to keep down the cost of doing business and assist competitiveness. My colleagues will deal with the Wild Atlantic Way issues.

Ms Fiona Monaghan

I will deal with the points made about the Wild Atlantic Way. Like Deputy Harrington, I live along the Wild Atlantic Way and can echo his sentiments.

With regard to the app, the current app on the market is not the official app, or is not a Fáilte Ireland developed app, but the good news is there will be one which is due to be launched early in July. In exact response to his point, one of the key functions of the app will be a what is nearby piece which will encourage visitors to stay and have their lunch, evening meal, visit other attractions or engage in activities in the vicinity. There will be an opportunity on the app to give people very specific messages about where they are at a particular point in time. The app will be launched in July.

Deputy Noel Harrington

Will the app include, for example, Fáilte Ireland's registered providers?

Ms Fiona Monaghan

Yes, it will. All tourism providers, accommodation providers and all the detail currently on the Fáilte Ireland website for those businesses in the vicinity and jurisdiction of the Wild Atlantic Way will be available on the app as well as maps and the location of the viewing points.

Reference was made to young international people who work in Dublin for short or long periods. Our colleagues on the Dublin project have already engaged in a very interesting exercise. They hosted a Dublin evening at Google and shared with those people all the hidden gems and secrets and things to do and see in Dublin. We will replicate the event with other multinationals for other big propositions such as the Wild Atlantic Way. This week we embarked on an extensive home holiday campaign that features the Wild Atlantic Way. The aim is to encourage Irish people to head west or migrate from the east to the west and engage with the Wild Atlantic Way. We want them to look at the whole west coast in a different light.

Chairman

Very good.

Mr. Mark Henry

I wish to pick up on some points. The Deputy asked about the new visa regime with Britain. It is very significant. We did some consumer research with potential Chinese visitors in March when the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport visited the place. He spoke at a few events and we set up a lot of industry events with him out there. The issue of visas emerged solidly from the research as one of the major ones. One can get a Schengen visa which allows access to more than 20 countries for one price and cheaper than a combined British and Irish visa. The problem is the cost and ease of getting visas, particularly if one must go to two different embassies to get two different visas to plan the trip, etc.

This initiative goes right to the heart of that and will make it a lot easier. In terms of getting visitors on to the island of Ireland from China, if they have to go to Belfast and come back, one is into all sorts of situations of needing two visas and multiple re-entry. This initiative is significant and it will very much assist us in selling Ireland through the tour operators and the trade over there. Our ambition in China is to increase the numbers more than threefold by 2020, so this is a very significant initiative which will help us to achieve that.

Ms Siobhán McMenamy

In business tourism and corporate events, we run significant campaigns in five markets. We are hearing good things from the US and, in particular, from Canada, where there was evidence of frustrated demand because we did not have year-round access until this year. Great Britain, Germany, France and Belgium are good examples of that international association and the kind of collective efforts whereby, working with Fáilte Ireland, the industry and the embassy network, we have managed to secure the Union of International Associations conference for Ireland this autumn. The people who will attend that have a huge number of delegates and conferences in their gift to bring to Ireland in the years ahead.

Deputy Sandra McLellan

I thank the delegates for their presentations, which have been very positive for Ireland going forward. They articulated the reasons quite well in their presentations. I have a few comments to make and questions to ask.

I agree the Wild Atlantic Way is proving very popular and, coming from the south east, I would welcome it if it was replicated there. We have a lot to offer there but it is a matter of putting it together and a little bit of joined-up thinking. We could have our own Wild Atlantic Way in the south east.

We discussed Ireland's value for money rating as a tourist destination and trying to shake off that "Rip-off Ireland" tag. The fact the domestic market is flat was mentioned. Ireland can be very expensive for Irish holidaymakers. The price of some hotel rooms has gone up quite a lot over the past six months. What initiatives are we working on to ensure that it is cost-effective for families to holiday at home?

I refer to the €1 million local government fund to support local communities. How can that fund be accessed and what is it to be spent on? Will the delegates elaborate on that?

I refer to the development of digital marketing, which is extremely important. Nowadays everybody goes on the Internet to see where they are going or what they will do. The delegates mentioned that they were driving a programme of digital insight development and that there was huge investment in social media. Have they looked at smart cameras? Perhaps they will tell us a little about that?

Has the flooding we experienced around our coastline earlier this year had an impact? I am sure some people have gone on the Internet and decided Ireland would be a lovely holiday destination because they saw a lovely boardwalk to walk on. Is it possible that they may arrive to find the boardwalk has been washed away and that they are not getting what they thought they were getting? Has the flooding had such an impact?

The delegates mentioned that The Gathering was a huge success, possibly attracting 250,000 extra visitors. However, we have some problems attracting repeat visitors to Ireland. Do we have enough visitor attractions to attract repeat visitors? What are we doing to address that?

Deputy Paudie Coffey

Most of the issues I wanted to raise have already been raised, so I will not go back over them. I thank the delegates for very positive presentations. Tourism and the revenue it produces are very important for our economy. That is well acknowledged and I commend everybody involved in contributing to that success. As the delegates know better than most, we need to continuously evaluate that success and see where we can make further improvements. I will try to touch on those and make some general comments.

I mention tourism ambassadors, their role and how they can be utilised to best effect. Some time ago, the Minister announced that the former astronaut Chris Hadfield from Canada had been engaged to try to bring some international attention to Irish tourism and what it can offer, which I welcome. He has a very high profile. Recently, the Kardashians visited Ireland, which in its own way placed a spotlight on Ireland and what it can offer. Will the delegates comment on that?

Coming from Waterford in the south east, I must mention the Viking triangle, which has been supported and is developing into a very successful tourism product. I thank everyone for their support in that regard. There are many volunteer ambassadors who come from the community. They volunteer their time and they train and educate themselves on what the city and the region has to offer. They go out on a voluntary basis, co-ordinated by the local authority. Their role is so important and should be encouraged. Perhaps the delegates might comment on their respective roles within the whole tourism product and how we sell ourselves. The VAT rates have been covered, so I will not go over that again.

The regional benefit and the regional spread in capacity concerns me. Along with colleagues from the regions, I spend a lot of time in Dublin and see the pressures at the various stages throughout the season, and there is no doubt Dublin has capacity issues. There is so much potential to spread that out to the regions with the development of motorways and better access to the regions. I agree with my colleague who mentioned people in the corporates and that we should get those employees out to the regions at weekends and at other times as there is so much to offer in the regions.

We commend all those involved in the Wild Atlantic Way but we have very important tourism initiatives in our regions. In my region, we have the Deise Greenway and the Mount Congreve Gardens. We also have the Comeragh Mountains and the coastline, and the weather is often better than in other parts of the country. We must encapsulate all of that. I do not expect the delegates' organisations to do the groundwork but I expect them to try to co-ordinate all that is positive about the regions and to get more tourists into them. I would be interested to hear what other regional initiatives they might have. The Wild Atlantic Way and the huge push there was mentioned. This is welcome and it must happen, but I would like to see further strategies to develop other areas.

I have a special interest in Canada and I was delighted to hear that somebody from Tourism Ireland - I think the CEO - has gone to Canada. There are huge links between Waterford and Canada in terms of tourism opportunities, including through the Newfoundland links, which have been developed to some degree. I understand new air links have been established from Toronto to Dublin and from St. John's to Dublin. I would be interested to hear how we can develop them and perhaps push the people coming from those areas into the regions. Waterford is the Canada county because of the huge cultural and heritage links that exist between the two locations. I would like to hear whether there are any initiatives to try to develop potential in that area.

The mobile 35s, or people in that age group - people with young families or people who might want to get away for a short break - were mentioned. The work done in advertising was mentioned but the UK is a huge market on our doorstep. There are ready-made links through the regional airports. Waterford has a link with Manchester and Birmingham and there are other opportunities with London. Rosslare Harbour is also on our doorstep.

Are there any new initiatives under way to get people into the regions using the doorstep access that is already there? The value for money available in the regions and the family attractions on offer provide opportunities for further development.

Value for money was mentioned earlier and I presume the tourism organisations conduct customer satisfaction, repeat visit and exit surveys with those who visit Ireland. I ask the witness to provide some information on that. Niche tourism development is very important. Food festivals were mentioned in that regard and there are some very successful food festivals in my own area, including the Waterford and Dungarvan food festivals. Cycling tourism has grown exponentially in recent years and we have some beautiful cycling routes here. The Sean Kelly cycling festival is held in Dungarvan every year and attracts almost 7,000 cyclists. That success can be repeated in other areas of the country. Orienteering, surfing, food and greenways are all niche areas that can be further developed. Cultural heritage also offers opportunities. I know that Mr. Matthews previously worked with the Heritage Council and has a great understanding of that whole area but I believe it is an untapped resource in Ireland, even though some great work is being done. I come from a place called Portlaw which was a planned industrial town that had a population in excess of 5,000 a century and a half ago. Now there are only 1,500 people living there. Those who left are in various parts of the world and we need to try to attract them back to discover their cultural roots. There are enormous opportunities in that regard and I am sure the witnesses are well aware of that. We could develop this aspect of tourism further through modern technology, websites and applications. We could also develop more tangible linkages on the ground.

There are enormous opportunities for this small country and we are ahead of the posse thanks to the great work being done by Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and others. That said, there is a lot more to do.

Chairman

The Deputy made a good pitch for Waterford. We will move to Kerry now and Deputy Griffin.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I feel like going online and booking a short break in Waterford after that contribution. I thank the witnesses for their presentations. The discussion this morning has been very positive and I commend the work of the various organisations represented here. It is excellent to see a sector on an upward trajectory given the fact that in recent years most sectors were on a downward one. I must also acknowledge the work of our Minister in shaping policy direction. Initiatives like the 9% VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality industry, the travel tax and The Gathering have had a very positive impact. I see the importance of the 9% VAT rate to tourism in Kerry every day. I meet people who are now in jobs who would not be working were it not for that initiative. It is a measure which I fought hard to retain in the last budget and hope it will be retained into the future. In fact, it should be extended to other sectors. It is a beacon for the rest of the economy and shows how a proactive tax policy can actually generate benefits which outweigh any losses.

I welcome the development of the Wild Atlantic Way. I live on it and am very excited about it. It is giving peripheral areas which would not have previously benefited from tourism a chance to do so. It encourages people not just to pass through such areas but to stop and add value to local economies. I acknowledge the co-operation of Fáilte Ireland with regard to Cloghane and Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula in west Kerry, which were not initially on the Wild Atlantic Way route but work is now under way to include them, which I appreciate.

In terms of marketing, I have a suggestion which may sound a little off the wall. Bearing in mind that the UK market is on our doorstep and the Wild Atlantic Way is ideal for driving holidays, I e-mailed the BBC a couple of weeks ago suggesting that it do a "Top Gear" special on the Wild Atlantic Way. It would be a fantastic way to showcase the Wild Atlantic Way, not just to the UK market but to markets all over the world. "Top Gear" has a huge cult following and an enormous global audience. I know that people will respond to that and say we do not want so-called boy racers coming over here, but realistically those who could afford to come here to drive the Wild Atlantic Way would be in the higher end of the market. It would be hoped they would have a little more sense and know better than to speed around those roads. A "Top Gear" special would be a fantastic way to showcase our western coast. In that context, I would ask for the support of the tourism agencies-----

Chairman

Did the Deputy get a response from the BBC?

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I did not get a positive response, unfortunately. I got an acknowledgment all right but I suspect mine was one of 1 million e-mails sent to the BBC that day. Perhaps the tourism organisations would have a bit more weight than a humble Deputy from south Kerry. I ask that they would follow up on that because it would be an excellent opportunity for us and would constitute free advertising.

I hold constituency clinics in places like Dingle, Killarney and Kenmare, and in the winter time there is a serious drop in visitor numbers, despite the fact that local communities do their best to organise events and activities that will attract visitors. I have always believed that Ireland has as much, if not more, to offer in the winter months than in the peak summer season. I note that Scotland has been aggressively marketing itself as a winter tourism destination in recent years. Indeed, such is the success of the campaign that I went there myself to see what is on offer, and while I was impressed, I believe we have as much, if not more, to offer. More could be done to try to boost our winter tourism performance, thus creating sustainable employment throughout the year, particularly outside Dublin.

Deputy Coffey referred to return visitors and I remember reading recently that we are not performing as well other comparable markets, such as Scotland, in this regard. How can we improve that? I love talking to tourists and will do so whenever I meet them in Killarney, Killorglin or elsewhere, to get their feedback. I have very rarely met anyone who was not happy here and who was not having a good experience, and yet we are not getting as many return visits as we could be. How do we deal with that issue because it does not seem to be based on a satisfaction deficit? What is the problem and how can we do better in that regard?

I wish to acknowledge the proactive approach to developing greenways. I travelled the Westport to Achill greenway last year and it is fantastic. It has had an enormous impact on the local economy and is very impressive. I am very excited about the development of the greenway from Glenbeigh to Reenard. An investment of almost €4 million over the next two years will enable the development of a world class greenway. It will be an iconic greenway and images of its way-covers, viaducts and tunnels will be on postcards, posted on Facebook and will travel the world. It will be something special and I acknowledge the vision in pursuing that project. I hope many more such projects will be undertaken. My vision for the future would be a national cycling network whereby one could get on a bike at the airport at Dublin, Knock, Cork or Kerry and cycle anywhere in the country without have to travel on a main road for very long. We should pursue such a vision.

There is huge potential in angling too. While many anglers visit Kerry, most have told me that more could be done for them. Are there any efforts being made to develop a cruise industry here? There is no company currently offering an around Ireland cruise to the best of my knowledge, but we have the facilities in place and a coastline that could be travelled in a week to ten days. Could that be examined as a new product and as something that would showcase our coastline? There are many towns and villages along our coast which would fight for the opportunity to bring in cruise tourists.

On the subject of marketing, a number of years ago the US state of California used some very high-profile people to promote tourism, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rob Lowe and others. Could we look a doing something similar here? We certainly have numerous figures who would be well known and, more important, well liked internationally. Is consideration being given to an advertising campaign that might grab the attention of those who might never have paid attention to Ireland's tourism marketing message before?

I wish to mention an idea I had in the context of 2015 or, more realistically, 2016.

Building on the back of The Gathering which was a major success and which brought activity and a much-needed lift psychologically to nearly every community in the country, could we look at the idea of a home gathering, aimed at getting people to holiday at home in 2016? I know there is a campaign every year for people to holiday at home but could we make a massive effort to say to people that 2016 is the year that we holiday at home and organise events that would attract people to stay in the country? Is this an idea that could be looked at, given that we have a high level of overseas travel from Ireland each year? If we were to get 10% of the expenditure on overseas travel, it would come close to €1 billion, as I understand from research. Is this an idea that would be considered?

Chairman

I know that Deputy Colreavy wants to come in, but I would appreciate it if we could take replies to questions in the order they were asked, first Deputy McLellan, then Deputy Coffey and Deputy Griffin.

Mr. Shaun Quinn

On the question in respect of the fund that we have with the local authorities and IPB Insurance, that is an initiative to build on the success of The Gathering. Many communities did fantastic work in 2013 and because it was so successful it would be wrong for it to end completely. Fáilte Ireland is putting funding into the initiative but it is being run by the local authorities around the country. The money is used for funding communities and groups who will try to continue to organise The Gathering type events over the next three years. It is trying to build on the legacy.

Chairman

How is it divided among the local authorities?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

To my knowledge, it is divided equally between them. I am not too sure how many events the local authorities are choosing to do per county? It is left primarily up to them.

Deputy Sandra McLellan

I am sorry to interrupt. Do people know about this fund and how does one apply for money from this funding?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

I would imagine that the local authorities have communicated with community groups. In fact, I am sure that is what is happening. The local authorities were very important partners on the ground with us in the events of The Gathering. There was a feeling that it was a very useful vehicle and that we should continue to work with the local authorities.

On the question of home holidays and price offerings, we cannot get involved in the area of pricing but we are highlighting good value. On the Fáilte Ireland home market website, one will find an area dedicated to special offers. We are advertising some of these offerings in newspapers so that people will know there is some fantastic value in areas of the home market in spite of what we were saying earlier.

Deputy Coffey referred to the south and east and I will ask my colleague, Mr. Paddy Mathews to deal with that and an alternative to the Wild Atlantic Way.

Mr. Paddy Mathews

The idea behind the Wild Atlantic Way was to aggregate all the various destinations along the west coast to an offering that had scale and singularity and would be more visible overseas. There were approximately 35 different driving routes along the west coast, with only three of them crossing a county boundary, making them very local and not really visible. That was the unifying idea behind the Wild Atlantic Way. There is very clear evidence that this will be very successful, we are looking to apply the same thinking to the south and the east as well. It will not necessarily manifest itself in a single route. That was quite a bespoke solution for the west coast, as most of the areas were along the coast and were easily linked up with a single route. There is a more dispersed richness within the south and the east, with the core attractions in inland towns balanced with the very strong coastal richness as well. The solution will be slightly different and we are not sure how it will manifest itself but we are focusing very intently on the south and east with the idea that we need to group and aggregate the very rich heritage that is within the Viking triangle as the Deputy mentioned, the new medieval mile in Kilkenny, the grand tour in Kildare and Wicklow, the prehistoric riches in the Boyne Valley and Cork Harbour. There are areas between them such as the Blackstairs Mountains and the Barrow Valley in Carlow and the Comeragh Mountains. We are looking at the theme of culture and heritage and how we can group them together for overseas marketing so that they get the scale and singularity. It helps Tourism Ireland to get a clearer focus and a clearer resolution on what that area has to offer. Once people get there, the diversity that exists can be made more apparent. There is a very clear focus on this. We are working with international consultants on helping us shape that proposition and we hope that will be more evident in the third quarter of this year. There is a very strong piece of work being done on this area. There will be two very strong propositions, the Wild Atlantic Way and the other dealing with the south and east. The detail has not emerged just yet, but I think we are on the right track.

Mr. Shaun Quinn

Deputy Coffey also raised two other points, the first of which was volunteer ambassadors. We wholly agree with having volunteer ambassadors as evidenced by The Gathering. We talk about marketing and big grants for events but the real power of The Gathering was what volunteers and communities did on the ground. We are finding this year when we are hosting meetings up and down the country on the Wild Atlantic Way, the local communities are coming out. The people are not necessarily in the tourist trade alone. I do not know to what extent tourism has been successful in the past in harnessing the power of volunteer ambassadors and I think it is an area in which we need to do much better. There are no two ways about that.

On the question of value for money surveys, these surveys are completed for us independently by third parties. We have a number of surveys that track value for money. I do not have the figures in front of me today, but in relation to value for money ratings for the German and the French markets, they are at their highest rating since we joined the euro. Even in Britain and North America, where there is a currency issue, and that can affect value for money, that has turned around and been quite positive. I can get the Deputy some specific details on those surveys.

Deputy Griffin raised the idea of having a home gathering campaign. Let me give some credit to the Irish punter. Since the downturn there has been quite a decline in the amount of money that Irish people are spending on holidays, but virtually all of that decline has been in overseas trips. The Irish punter has supported the tourism industry and it is important that it should be said.

As we said earlier in the discussion, we should not take our eyes off the ball. it is a very valuable market, it is €1 billion on our doorstep. It is not seasonal. It is a very long season. One of the concerns is that if the domestic market were to weaken, it weakens the shoulder, which in turn can weaken the investment that is made, as one would not be getting the great utilisation of the assets through the year. Jobs could be at risk. This is really important.

There were some issues around the Wild Atlantic Way or Greenway.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

On the idea of a home gathering, is this something that Mr. Quinn would consider?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

We have a totally open mind. My colleagues who work in that area are not here today, but we are looking for new idea for any year that will cause people to pause and think about what they are going to do.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I am fully cognisant of the contribution already made by domestic tourism, by Irish people in our country but I think it would be a major boost given that it is 2016, and one could tie in all the centenary events.

Mr. Mark Henry

Deputy McLellan asked about the impact of the flooding. So far we have received no negative feedback. Perhaps all the tourist have not arrived yet, but to date there has been no particular negative feedback from overseas. Weather was an extreme event across the Continent this year.

Therefore, they might forgive us if not everything is perfect when they arrive.

The Deputy also asked about digital marketing, specifically the use of smart cameras. The opportunity we see in this area arises when tourists here use their cameras, thereby giving us the opportunity to take and use the pictures they post in our social media promotion. Most of the imagery we use in social media - we post lovely photos of Ireland every day of the week - is material we do not produce ourselves. We do not go out and take photographs but use material other people, including ordinary tourists, have posted. Often these are the best shots. People post lovely images and we see these as authentic.

On some of the issues raised by Deputy Coffey, our board was in Waterford last week enjoying the wonders of the Viking triangle. The board was given a briefing on the ambassador programme that evening. There seems to be very positive sentiment from the industry there in regard to the year to date. I will link his question on tourism ambassadors with the question raised by Deputy Griffin. I guess we are talking about celebrities here, such as the Kardashians and Chris Hadfield. Very few of our Irish celebrities have international fame across all of our markets. In other words, somebody who is famous in America might not be known in France. There are not a huge number of Irish celebrities who have the same degree of fame as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Therefore, we have tended to work with celebrities relevant to different markets. For example, we have worked with Chris O'Dowd in Britain and the United States, where he is known. Recently we worked with Andrew Maxwell in Britain as he is well known there. We have used our well-known golfers, mainly to target golfers who would know their names internationally. Therefore, we have used social media and publicity to work with people from time to time, where their diaries allow and where they are willing to do something for us, often for free to help out Ireland Inc.

In the context of people like Chris Hadfield or some of the international celebrities who were here, or the Kardashians, we work with them where possible. We worked with Tom Cruise last year and highlighted his Irish heritage. It is hard to sign up those international celebrities as regular ambassadors, but we make the most of these opportunities when celebrities are here. We are working proactively with a range of different people, from the Irish Film Board to the national cultural institutions, who have links with or see opportunities in regard to celebrities coming to Ireland, and we try to make the most of that. Some other film companies are in touch with us also from time to time. These opportunistic occasions are wonderful and we have built a kind of internal commando team ready to avail of these opportunities when we see them. For example, when it was apparent that the Kardashians were here, within 24 hours we had a social media video and press pack going international. We set ourselves up to be being able to respond quickly when these opportunities arrive, which often tend to be social media opportunities.

Roots tourism was mentioned and it was in that context we were working with Tom Cruise last year. We set up an Irish family history page on Facebook last year, primarily to highlight the roots gatherings that were happening last year - the clan gatherings and different events. That page proved to be hugely popular and we sustained it beyond the year of The Gathering and have changed it into a broader roots-tourism-diaspora Facebook page. It now has more than 230,000 followers globally, all people who are tracing their Irish ancestry. We have worked with the national institutions, the library and so on to highlight their collections. Not only those; we have also worked with the Irish Family History Foundation and some of the commercial businesses such as Find My Past and other organisations with genealogy products who can help ground people's general sense. Perhaps their great grandfather was Irish, but they are not sure from where and we can help them. We have held expert sessions where people who are able to say that their relatives are from a particular parish, which helps ground their particular interest in the geography, are given follow-up information on what to come and see and do in, for example, County Laois, if that is where their ancestry lies. We are also leading the charge on a national diaspora centre, which would be a positive contribution to the ancestry-roots-tourism story when this comes to fruition.

Deputy Griffin mentioned seasonality and spoke about how Scotland targeted him. We do the same. We target Scots, and the whole of Britain, to come to Ireland in the winter. We have been targeting many of the social energisers to get them to come here off season, particularly for events. We do a lot of work, for example, with TradFest every January to try to get people over from Britain and further afield in Europe where there is direct access throughout the winter. Events are an important reason for coming in the winter season. We also have a new focus in North America, in the USA and Canada, where there is now year-round access. This may not be for a weekend, but we promote a five-day break in the off season. This is a new focus for us in 2014, starting in the autumn, and will continue in 2015.

Ms Siobhán McMenamy

Deputy Coffey asked about Canada. This summer we will see an increase of 60% or 70% in the number of flight seats available. The WestJet service from Newfoundland launched this week. This is its first European route. The Dublin Airport Authority saw the opportunity based on many of the historic links mentioned, and we worked closely with it to secure this route for Ireland. WestJet is on record as saying the service is 90% sold out already, a bit of a phenomenon in the aviation industry, and it has extended the season twice. This is a good news story from that part of Canada to Ireland. Aer Lingus has also launched a Toronto-Dublin Air Canada route, a new low-cost model. Air Canada has extended its season and its transatlantic flights are continuing. Therefore, there is good potential. We have increased our investment to Canada this year to maximise those opportunities. There is evidence that there was frustrated demand. People want to come to Ireland and this is their opportunity.

Deputy Coffey also asked about sea access. We have extensive corporate campaigns with Irish Ferries and Stena in both the British and European markets. Car-touring visitors are very important as they stay longer and tend to visit more of the island of Ireland. Much of the work on the Wild Atlantic Way and the initiatives mentioned by Mr. Mathews in regard to extending the touring routes will ensure the success of this for the next few years, but sea access continues to be important. This year, two new sea access routes were launched, which, while unusual, is welcome - routes to Europe and an extension of the services between Dublin and Great Britain.

Deputy Griffin asked about trying to get publicity for the Wild Atlantic Way on "Top Gear". This brings us back to the question asked earlier about return on investment. We invested just over €2 million in publicity last year and generated €280 million worth of equivalent advertising value, so this is an area of focus for us. We are knocking down doors for a number of high-profile programmes from Great Britain to come here. I think "Top Gear" will have to give in eventually, such is the number of requests it is receiving. An example of success in this area is Germany where ARD, the RTE equivalent in Germany, did a one-hour documentary in its prime time Sunday evening slot on the Wild Atlantic way. This is an example of how well this is resonating in the overseas markets. We hope to have a number of other high-profile TV programmes, because the Wild Atlantic Way lends itself completely to TV as a way of selling it.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

Was a specific request made to the BBC about this?

Ms Siobhán McMenamy

Yes, about this and a number of other areas. We are not quite there yet, but we are hopeful.

Ms Fiona Monaghan

All three Deputies raised the issue of attracting repeat visitors. Given the scale of the Wild Atlantic Way, we do not anticipate that any visitor will complete the route in one go. Therefore, the objective is to give them reasons to return time and again and do a chunk of it at a time. In a similar way to the Camino de Santiago, we are looking at a passport initiative and how people can get this passport stamped having completed a section of the Wild Atlantic Way. In regard to lengthening or extending the season, some initiatives, particularly along the Wild Atlantic Way, such as whale and dolphin watching, are at their best from October until March. That provides an opportunity to attract landscape and wildlife enthusiasts or bird watchers. We are looking at experiences, themes and products that will attract people out of season so that we are not dependent on the core season.

On publicity and an initiative similar to the "Top Gear" initiative, we currently have the chief executive and European director of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, the most prominent industry grouping for adventure and activity providers, in Ireland. They arrived yesterday and are travelling the Wild Atlantic Way by Harley-Davidson. They are leaving Kinsale this morning and heading west and up along the coast. They have a huge social media campaign around this visit, tweeting to their members about Ireland, activity, adventure and the Wild Atlantic Way. We will also host their annual summit in Killarney in October, for the first time ever, which will attract 600 media representatives and buyers of activity and adventure products.

Deputy Michael Colreavy

I apologise for not being here for the presentations, but I had to speak in the Dáil on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill. It is called multi-tasking. I appreciate that Deputy McLellan took over on my behalf.

Every Deputy and Senator understands how precious tourism is to this nation. We need to make it easy for people to come here, we need to provide good facilities for them when they are here and we need to eliminate obstacles to their getting here and enjoying themselves. If I might be parochial, there is a perception that there is a lack of tourism investment in the place I live. I live in north Leitrim and I am referring to Sligo and all of Leitrim. We have the most wonderful scenery, with a beautiful landscape including hills, mountains valleys, glens and beaches. We have culture, music and the arts. We have everything. We have an easygoing way of life, and perhaps that is at the nub of it all. Perhaps we are little too easygoing. When I travel around parts of the country I nearly burst into tears when I see the obvious investment in the tourism infrastructure in other areas. There is no hotel in north Leitrim. There was a hotel there up to two years ago but it is now dilapidated. It could be restored to be a beautiful hotel. It is in Dromahair in north Leitrim, close to the banks of Lough Gill near Parkes Castle. It would be a huge asset. The community wanted to take it over but we do not have a model to allow that type of community investment in our tourism industry. We are a little laid back and easygoing.

A number of people who are involved in the tourism industry in the county have set up a small co-operative. They are examining different ways to promote tourism, not only in Leitrim but as part of the Wild Atlantic Way. They have developed the Wild Atlantic butterfly route, with which the witnesses may be familiar. They have some wonderful concepts, looking at tourism promotion in a slightly different way. I would like the witnesses to meet representatives of that co-operative at some stage and I will follow up with them on that. They talked about volunteer ambassadors, but the best ambassadors we can have for tourism are those who will benefit from the results of their efforts. I will pursue with them the possibility of meeting those representatives at some stage in the near future. I have asked those representatives to put their thoughts in writing before they meet the witnesses. On a positive note, the Fleadh Cheoil will be held in Sligo this August, which is a great event. We love that one.

People might say that I am being parochial in raising the issue of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, but I am not. The witnesses might say it is not their business, but it is. There are far too many organisations and State agencies who are sitting on the fence on this matter and all because the EPA is doing some research into fracking. Tourism organisations should be extremely concerned about even the possibility of fracking in to the north west of Ireland. Irish Water, the agrifood industry and many other industries should be concerned about it. Everybody is saying that it is not their call as it is not within the scope of their job description. If the EPA says that fracking can be safe provided it is well managed and controlled, one thing is sure: we will not have any overseas tourists coming to this country to look at fracking paths, and why would they come? If fracking comes to Ireland, we will find that tourists will not come here full stop. I would not go over to Texas to have a look at an oil rig over there. The short-term gain, if any, from fracking gas anywhere on the island of Ireland would forever be lost when account is taken of the damage that would be done to the landscape. The representatives and agencies such as theirs need to influence the Government and point out the risks to the tourism industry. Aside from the safety aspect of it, as the EPA will come up with a report on that, if our landscape is damaged, the agencies represented will not have a product to sell because tourists will not come here. The witnesses need to say that loudly and clearly.

Chairman

Do the witnesses have any comments to make in response?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

I will ask Ms Monaghan to comment on the Deputy's first point on Leitrim and Mr. Mathews to comment on his second point.

Ms Fiona Monaghan

Leitrim is definitely on the Wild Atlantic Way, albeit with the shortest coastline, and the butterfly loop that the Deputy mentioned is being put in as one of the secrets, or hidden gems, of the Wild Atlantic Way in a publication that is about to be printed for distribution in the overseas markets to encourage visitors to engage. As the project develops, we are looking at having a number of spurs and loops off the route, and north Leitrim will figure very much in this. Leitrim and Sligo will tell the whole Yeats story and there are the associations there as well. I have also been informed in the past week about the wild salmon product and we are examining how we can exploit and capitalise on that at the confluence of two rivers on the Leitrim coastline.

Deputy Colreavy mentioned the Fleadh Cheoil, which will be a great boost for Sligo this summer and for the next two years. We will be showcasing traditional culture along the Wild Atlantic Way in Sligo and developing digital material that we can showcase and share with international audiences after the fact.

Mr. Paddy Mathews

With regard to fracking, Deputy Colreavy might know that Fáilte Ireland is a prescribed body in the planning process; we are one of the bodies that has to be consulted with regard to certain developments by local authorities and other developmental agencies. We have never shied away from making our views known on a number of high-profile cases, particularly when we feel that tourism is under threat. The Deputy is absolutely right in saying that fracking is our business, because tourism is our business. It is something on which we will be forming a view in the very near future. We have had many representatives from individuals and groups both in Leitrim and Clare on this issue because those are the two areas that seem to be the focus with regard to fracking. I am well aware of the EPA research that is under way, and it is limited in its scope, but we will be forming a view in the near future on the likely implications of fracking for tourism and we will be communicating that to Government through the appropriate channels as well. Anything that has the potential to affect the quality, character or integrity of the raw material of tourism is something we would be very concerned about, and the raw material in Ireland is very much our landscape, culture and heritage. It is on that that we trade. I do not want to prejudice the conclusion of our investigations, but the Deputy can rest assured that we will look at that over the coming months and form a view on it.

Deputy Michael Colreavy

I take it that the witnesses will go to fracking sites in other jurisdictions and, more importantly, that they will go to areas where fracking has been carried out to see how the landscape has been left after the frackers have moved on.

Mr. Paddy Mathews

We want to ensure that any view we take is evidence-based and part of that will involve our looking at where fracking has taken place elsewhere and, most importantly, what visitor reactions are to it. We have done something similar with wind farms in the past, where we have undertaken visitor surveys and formed a view based on visitor perceptions of wind farms and their views on them. Anything we state in any submission we make in the planning realm must be evidence-based.

Mr. Mark Henry

I would add that we are also looking forward to the Fleadh Cheoil. We will have an international press group over to generate some international publicity. We have already briefed colleagues on the Yeats 150 celebration, which will be an exciting opportunity next year-----

Deputy Michael Colreavy

Yes, that will be a good one.

Mr. Mark Henry

-----and it will be part of our programme. We will look forward to that.

Chairman

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, DIGI, raised an issue with regard to tourism and alcohol-related attractions in correspondence that arose during private business earlier.

The group referred to the alarming lack of focus on alcohol-related attractions in recent Fáilte Ireland advertising campaigns. It said:

The Wild Atlantic Way is a fantastic initiative but there has been no focus at all on the 435 pubs that provide quality food, accommodation and entertainment along the route. This is indicative of a new approach within Fáilte Ireland that seeks to ignore the vital role of family businesses associated with alcohol in the Irish brand that tourists from all over the world seek out when they visit Ireland.

The group goes on to mention some 35,000 people employed in the whisky industry in Scotland. Can the witnesses comment on this?

Ms Fiona Monaghan

We are working with the Vintners Federation of Ireland, VFI, to ensure there is a good listing of pubs along the Wild Atlantic Way. This applies especially to those offering food and entertainment. These pubs will be on the app and all of the platforms that we will use to promote the Wild Atlantic Way. We will particularly encourage visitors to engage with the music element. We will focus on value for money in terms of pub food and pub lunches and we aim to showcase local produce. This an area in which we are working closely with the VFI.

Chairman

I presume attractions such as the Guinness Storehouse and the distillery in Midleton, along with other attractions, are very popular with tourists. Is the Guinness Storehouse one of the most popular attractions? Do the delegates engage with groups such as Diageo?

Mr. Shaun Quinn

Yes. The Guinness Storehouse is the No. 1 tourist attraction in Ireland and such attractions form part of our planning. A balance should be struck because consumer research indicates that the alcohol message must be managed carefully. It is a sensitive area but there is no doubt that the Irish pub is a critical and authentic component of the Irish experience and this is why we want it to feature prominently in promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Chairman

It is obvious that the delegates do not agree with the comments made by DIGI.

Mr. Shaun Quinn

We are working with pubs and the drinks industry.

Chairman

I thank the delegates from Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland for today's enlightening discussion. It is a good news story and both organisations have worked hard to improve the sector in recent years. It is clear from today's discussion that great opportunities and challenges exist and this is why Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are necessary. We wish them well in their work.

The joint committee adjourned at 12.30 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 25 June 2014.