Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 29 May 1990

Vol. 399 No. 3

Written Answers. - Tourist Numbers.

Theresa Ahearn

Ceist:

178 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the projected number of tourists who will visit this country for the years 1990 to 2000; the country of origin of these tourists; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Tourism and Transport (Mr. S. Brennan)

The Government have set the following targets in respect of overseas visitor numbers for the Irish tourism industry up to 1993:

1990	1991	1992	1993
m.	m.	m.	m.
3.185	3.685	4.185	4.585

North America, Britain, France and Germany will be the main sources of this traffic with further development of other European and Scandinavian markets, assuming an increased importance. Possibilities in new East European and long haul markets like Austrialia and Japan will also be exploited as fully as possible.

Targets have not yet been set for the remainder of the period up to 2000 A.D. However, current projections are that world tourism will grow by an annual average of 4 per cent — 5 per cent to the end of this century.