Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 September 2014
548. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will, as part of the national tourism policy, designate Cork Airport as a convention and conference gateway for business tourism, as such a move would complement the Government's decision to support and part fund the development of an event centre in Cork. [35906/14]
View answer549. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will include as part of the national tourism policy the creation of a specific tourism marketing fund for new south of Ireland connectivity and inbound tourism growth. [35907/14]
View answer550. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will, as part of the national tourism policy, develop a more integrated approach to inbound tourism marketing and co-ordination of tourism development in the south-west region, including references to developing structures around tourism co-ordination to be aligned and revised, set specific bednight growth targets by market to be agreed and published and ensure a better focus on marketing spend. [35908/14]
View answer551. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will, as part of the national tourism policy, include designation and marketing support of Cork Airport as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way and the emerging Fáilte Ireland's south east heritage trail. [35909/14]
View answer552. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will include as part of the national tourism policy a stronger focus on development of strategic transport links to and from Cork Airport. [35910/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 548 to 552, inclusive, together.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has statutory responsibility to manage, operate and develop Dublin and Cork airports. In relation to Cork airport, DAA has put in place arrangements for Cork Airport to be run as a stand-alone business unit within the Company, properly resourced at management level locally, with the ability to make decisions locally with the assistance of the DAA group if necessary. A high level stakeholder body – the Cork Airport Development Council – has also been established to provide a forum for stakeholders from a range of sectoral and geographic backgrounds who have an interest in the development of the airport to engage with airport management and to help contribute to traffic and route growth. I consider therefore that the structures are in place for Cork Airport to explore options for growing its business in conjunction with other regional bodies if appropriate.
From a tourism perspective, all of my Department's allocation for tourism is provided for the use of the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, and I do not have discretionary funding available for individual marketing initiatives. Fáilte Ireland is the agency with responsibility for the development of the tourism sector in Ireland. In this respect, Fáilte Ireland works with local authorities and other regional stakeholders to maximise the tourism potential in their areas. Tourism Ireland, with responsibility for the overseas marketing of Ireland as a tourist destination, undertakes significant cooperative marketing activity with carriers serving Cork Airport to promote flights to Cork and boost travel to the wider region. The agency will continue to monitor developments at Cork airport and work with the airport and relevant stakeholders to maximise the numbers using existing services and to help to make the case for additional new services with potential tourism benefits for the region.
I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland and to Tourism Ireland for further information in this regard. Please contact my private office if a reply is not received within ten working days.
