I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 10, 33, 34 and 36 together.
The Government's objectives with regard to the future promotion and development of tourism have been stated unequivocally in the National Development Plan and, most recently, in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work. To achieve these objectives my Department's Estimates for 1994 include an allocation of £21.7 million to Bord Fáilte towards their overseas marketing and promotion. There is also a provision of £1.6 million to Shannon Development who are responsible, inter alia, for traffic and tourism development at Shannon and in the mid-west region. In addition a further £8 million is being made available for a tourism promotion and development fund.
Tourism is a key sector with considerable potential for generating significant growth in overseas revenue and a high level of sustainable employment. Tourism services are labour intensive and have a low import content. Revenue growth translates directly into job generation. As the Programme for Competitiveness and Work states: “tourism also acts as a powerful instrument of regional balance”.
Strategically, it is my intention to create the conditions necessary for the tourism sector to realise and hopefully exceed the key tagets set for it in terms of visitor numbers, revenue and employment for the end of the decade, which are: increase overseas visitor numbers by 1.7 million; increase overseas revenue by £1 billion; provide 35,000 new jobs, including 6,000 in construction.
I propose to meet these challenges by: reviewing the effectiveness of promotion and marketing of Ireland as a tourist destination; supporting the development of the Irish tourism product in quality, variety and value for money; improving the seasonal spread of tourism through marketing, product development, access and competitiveness programmes; improving training and quality standards in tourism; and ensuring the most effective use of EU Structural Funds for tourism.
Success in all of the above factors will be critical for Irish tourism, not only in terms of achieving the targets set but, even more importantly, in setting a solid basis for ensuring sustainable, quality, growth into the next millennium.
Consistent with this strategic perspective, I have systematically, since my appointment as Minister for Tourism and Trade, gone about encouraging all economic operators in this industry — which has unparalleled potential — to work as a powerful, cohesive unit. I have, for example, taken the most careful soundings in the industry about its future development and I have formally established a channel of advice from the industry directly to me in the form of the tourism council, which I chair. I have also taken a hard look at institutional roles in so far as they make a significant impact on the future development of the sector. For example, I have reviewed and reorganised the operations of my Department in regard to its tourism policy functions. I have reorganised the regional tourism structure. Similarly, I plan a significant review, with CERT, of manpower policy and training needs for the tourism sector, within a perspective focused on high standards to be realised by the end of this decade.
Simultaneously — I made no secret of this — I have been looking at the role of Bord Fáilte Éireann, as much in terms of its future potential and the sector's future requirements, as in terms of its historical performance or its current structure. The fact is, Bord Fáilte was established in 1939 under the Tourist Traffic Act, a full five and a half decades ago. Indisputably, in that time, Bord Fáilte has done much excellent work and while it has grown and developed organisationally throughout that process, it has done so much more in an organic fashion rather than in a way that might realistically be described as strategic response to great change. One has to ask the question if the organisation has fully and appropriately adapted over the years to the challenges of marketing Ireland as a tourist destination in the new, highly competitive, conditions that now prevail for tourism internationally. Put another way, bearing in mind the dictum that structure follows strategy, one can say that while we now certainly have a clearly defined strategy for tourism development, have we got the right structures to see it through?
In my opinion, Bord Fáilte is rightly regarded highly as a promotional body. But yet, it has many other functions — such as investment and product development, the provision of information services, the registration and regulation of accommodation and so forth — which, though very important in their own right, are not necessarily supportive of a promotional function. In fact, it could even be said that they could contribute to a significant deflection of team effort and commitment from the core promotional function.
This, then, is one of the key questions which I must seek to resolve. Namely, should all of these functions, ideally, be invested in one body at a time when the country has perhaps never required more of a single minded, dedicated, commitment to promoting our tourism potential abroad?
Another key issue is whether there are any special reasons why Bord Fáilte should be located in Dublin as opposed to some location outside of it.
I have been considering all of these things since my appointment as Minister for Tourism and Trade and I am very alive to the view that it may be unwise to draw firm conclusions one way or another in the absence of a comprehensive review of Bord Fáilte, with the assistance of consultancy expertise. I plan to take a final view on this matter in the very near future.
Overall, however, I am sure the House will agree that none of us, and no organisation concerned with tourism development, should be free from review and reassessment given that it is in the nature of change to require constant renewal and that change affects us all. If we do not get our policies, programmes and institutions right during this decade we will have ignored the demands of the new competitive environment and will untimately have served the promise of our tourism sector very badly indeed.
