Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 January 2022
84. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the steps she is taking to ensure a rapid regrowth in international tourism to Ireland in 2022; the extra supports she intends giving to the sector due to the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19 to ensure this vital sector survives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1360/22]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the tourism sector has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic so I was therefore pleased to secure a record level of funding for tourism in Budget 2022: €288.5 million in total, an increase of €67.5 million over the 2021 allocation. The allocation includes €50 million for business continuity supports and a €35 million increase to the Tourism Marketing Fund to support the delivery of a marketing strategy to help restore inbound tourism to Ireland.
As part of its marketing strategy, Tourism Ireland has established a recovery framework which will be underpinned by an extensive programme of promotional activity throughout 2022. Tourism Ireland will continue to work with airlines and ferry companies through a programme of jointly funded marketing initiatives to support the restoration of air and sea access routes which are so vital for tourism’s return to growth.
Fáilte Ireland recently announced indicative details of how the €50 million funding provided in Budget 2022 for the Tourism Business Continuity Programme will be allocated to assist strategic tourism businesses to recover in 2022. Fáilte Ireland has designed the programme to support those still experiencing the most difficulty as a result of the pandemic. The phasing of the programme has been set out to make sure that support is provided quickly to the businesses that need it most urgently and taking into account other Government funding that has already been received.
The Government recently agreed a number of changes to the major economy-wide support schemes available to businesses affected by the latest public health restrictions. Changes were made to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) and the tax debt warehousing scheme to expand the supports available to businesses affected.
It is important that future tourism growth must be sustainable as well as being consistent with our sectoral climate change targets and commitments. In that regard, I know that Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are also working towards the longer term goal of ensuring that we are successfully marketed as a sustainable tourism destination. As we rebuild our tourism sector we will seek to realise Ireland’s ambition to be amongst the world leaders in sustainable tourism practices and to set out a path for a green transition of the tourism industry and our destinations to become leading sustainable tourism destinations.
