Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 December 2013
409. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which he expects the tourism sector to grow over the next five years based on recent success; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55080/13]
View answerThe most recent published figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there were over 6 million overseas visits to Ireland in the ten month period between January and October 2013 representing a 7.3% increase on the corresponding period of 2012. All of our main target overseas markets show growth levels with the number of visits from Mainland Europe up 5.6% for the first ten months of 2013; the number of visits from Great Britain was up by 5.1%; the number of visits from North America was up by 14.6% for the first ten months while there was a 14.4% increase in the number of visits from other long-haul markets. In terms of future growth, I am confident that measures such as the retention of the lower VAT rate for tourism services, the reduction of the air travel tax to zero and the increased air access to Ireland will ensure that Irish tourism continues to grow in 2014 and beyond. I recently launched the Tourism Ireland 2014 Marketing Plans which aim to grow visit numbers by a further 4% in 2014. The agency is also finalising its three year Corporate plan which will include targets for the 2014 to 2016 period. With regard to longer term policy, the Tourism Policy Review was launched on 11th September 2013 by Minister Ring and I. It was launched with the publication of an issues paper and request for submissions. The level of interest has been such that I extended the deadline for receipt of responses to the public consultation to 22 November 2013. The views raised and other relevant evidence and analysis will now be considered, feeding into the drafting of the new policy in the New Year with a view to finalising it by Easter 2014. This review will consider what types of targets are appropriate for the tourism industry in the medium to long term (i.e. visitor numbers or tourism revenue) and the appropriate levels of such targets.
