Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 January 2014
696. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of Ireland's engagement history with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation based in Madrid, Spain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2879/14]
View answerThe UN World Tourism Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations serving as a global forum for tourism policy issues and pays particular attention to the interests of developing countries in the field of tourism. The World Tourism Organisation was established in 1975 to replace the International Union of Official Travel Organisations, whose membership comprised the national tourism organisations of more than 80 countries. The WTO became a specialised agency of the UN in 2003. Ireland has never been a member of the UNWTO. I understand that the USA and the UK are not current members either. Other EU countries which are not on the current list of members include Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden. The question of Irish membership of the WTO has been considered on a number of occasions since 1975. The consistent opinion has been that the potential benefits to Irish tourism were limited and would not justify the costs involved.
For most tourism administrations, the most useful aspect of WTO activity has been its role in compiling international tourism statistics. Both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland have access to WTO reports and have indicated that Irish membership of the WTO would not result in any significant improvement in information access. Neither do they view funding for membership of the WTO as a priority. It should also be noted that non-membership does not preclude attendance at various seminars/conferences organised by UNWTO. Outside of the UNWTO, Ireland is involved in other tourism committees at international level. These include the European Union's Tourism Advisory Committee and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Tourism Committee.
