Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2014
235. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which growth is expected in the tourism sector over the next three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27737/14]
View answer2013 was an excellent year for Irish tourism with the total number of overseas visits growing by 7.2%. All of our main markets grew compared to 2012 and we enjoyed our highest ever number of visits from North America. Figures recently published by the CSO show that for the 3 month period of February-April ‘14, overseas visit numbers grew by 7.5 % compared with the same period in 2013.
In terms of targets for 2014, the approved Tourism Ireland Business Plan for 2014 contains a target of growing visit numbers to Ireland by a further 4% this year and growing the associated revenue from these overseas visits by 7%. As part of its actions to reach this target, Tourism Ireland is undertaking extensive marketing campaigns in all of our main overseas markets. Furthermore, 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 from April and the increased air access to Ireland will also help to ensure that the targets are met.
In relation to the next three years, the approved Tourism Ireland Corporate Plan 2014-2016 includes a target of increasing overseas visits by 13% by 2016 compared to 2013. The Plan contains a range of actions to achieve this target, in areas such as destination branding, consumer engagement, and collaboration with other agencies and commercial partners.
