Liz McManus
Ceist:37 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the final tourist figures for 1993; his assessment of the market for 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Tourist Statistics.
Final figures for 1993 are not yet available. The latest tourism estimates available from the Central Statistics Office show that visitor numbers for the first nine months of 1993 at 2.689 million were up 5.3 per cent on the same period in 1992. Preliminary forecasts compiled by Bord Fáilte on the basis of available CSO returns put the number of overseas visitors for 1993 at 3.27 million, a 4.9 per cent increase on the previous year.
Ireland is ideally positioned to increase its share of the international tourism market and there are grounds for optimism in 1994 on a number of fronts. The present period of weak growth in the international economy seems to have reached its lowest point in 1993. An increasingly solid expansion is underway in the United States and Canada. The recovery in the UK seems well established and the indications are that, in some EU countries at least, the low point of economic activity has been passed. This improving international climate is very favourable in terms of the ability of the overseas consumer to consider a holiday in Ireland. This combined with the Government's new initiatives for marketing and promoting Ireland as a tourist destination will undoubtedly result in an improved performance and growth in tourist numbers during 1994.