Reverting to my starting point, the London Olympics provide an opportunity for Ireland. I sit on two groups, one of which is based in Dublin while the other is based in Northern Ireland, that are looking for the opportunities that will emerge from the Olympic Games. There is business to be won, but its scale needs to be quantified. We must recognise the fact that, at the time, there will be a large focus on London in the international media. We will need something that will capture the public's imagination and make us stand out in terms of, for example, where the torch will travel. It has several days in Northern Ireland, so there could be a hands across the Border initiative and so on. Something special will be required to capture the media's attention.
I have spoken with my counterpart in VisitBritain, which has agreed to co-operate with us. A large number of members of the unaccredited media will be in London and we would like to try to bring as many of them to Ireland during the Olympic period as possible. Many people might be interested in not being in London around the time of the Olympics, which is a tendency elsewhere. We have ideas in the pipeline as to how we will deal with the situation and I am happy that we will give it our best shot in 2012.
The 2010 World Expo was mentioned. Showcases like film and music events and so on are terrific. Recently, we met the Taoiseach's office. Between 70 million and 100 million people will visit this year's World Expo. The Irish pavilion will have a significant audience, but I cannot remember the exact figure. We have been plugged into the programme and the pavilion is almost complete. We will be sharing some photography and experiences. We hope that Northern Ireland, which I will discuss later, will have a Titanic exhibition at the World Expo in Shanghai, given the anniversary coming up in two years time. The expo presents a considerable opportunity for Belfast, Cork and all of Ireland.
The common visa was mentioned. We will give it our greatest push, but a common tourist visa between the UK and Ireland is never an easy win. However, it is a low-cost win that could win us business from Asia that we cannot otherwise get.
The issue of trails has been raised several times. They are exactly the type of thing we need. Someone mentioned that they attended Showcase Ireland, the crafts fair in the RDS. The week beforehand, we met the Crafts Council of Ireland. It will plug into us in our overseas platforms to try to attract people who are on quirky trails, for example, wood turners, cheese makers and so on. I told the council that it is not in the crafts business, but in the tourism business and should be showcased at some of our overseas events to give Ireland the quirky feel that makes it a little bit different.
We are joining up the dots better, but we still have a way to go. A number of years ago, we did a popular trails programme called Follow the Rainbow. We have also examined the areas of food and walking. These are natural themes, the great advantage of which is that they bring people into the regions and the undiscovered parts of Ireland. This fits in nicely with our brand, namely, "Go where Ireland takes you". The committee is singing our song when it discusses trails, although more is to be done.
Regarding the Swiss model, I have not visited Switzerland, but we have room to improve where signage is concerned. Perhaps it is our characteristic nature that we are not always as organised as the Swiss, but how long a walk will take should be known. No one comes to Ireland for the weather, so people know to bring gear and so on. It would open up a market that will grow in the current economic climate. The idea of outdoor Ireland would resonate positively, particularly in European markets. There is a market for the idea.
In terms of marketing co-ordination, I am happy that we work closely with Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, but there is always room for improvement. We are concerned with motivating people overseas who have many choices. Our No. 1 focus must be on the customer. There are many motivators, the greatest of which is our culture. It is an expression of ourselves that sets us apart from other people. Our role is to put in place a sophisticated marketing campaign that will make people choose Ireland over another destination. If I asked people two years ago about what they were doing for their holidays, they would probably have told me that they were taking a two-week break in X country and a couple of short breaks. Now, they would probably tell me that they do not know whether they will take holidays this year. We must ensure that our culture is to the fore and that we are fun, spontaneous and engaging as a destination. This is what our campaigns are designed to do.
Regional airports and regional access are vital. We have regular communications with the former. Where a new route opens up from the UK to Galway, Shannon or Kerry, we would aim to undertake a co-operative campaign. We have done so previously and will continue to do so, since direct access is vital from a regional tourism perspective.
I accept the points regarding north-west tourism. We visited the north west a number of months ago. In general, last year was tough for the western seaboard, as it was for the whole of the island. Regarding access figures into Shannon, this winter saw 50% fewer seats from North America, a valuable market for the west. This is a reality with which we must deal. We must work harder than ever with carriers to ensure that take-up of current capacity is maximised by undertaking co-operative campaigns, mainly driven on value. In all our markets, the key message is value. That will change in due course.
The issue has been raised by many industry bodies that the comparative cost of doing business here is high compared to other destinations and that is reflected in price. It would be wrong for me to say to those in our industry that they need to reduce their prices, as a great many people in businesses are hanging on by their finger nails, particularly in the restaurant sector. On the hotel sector, we co-operated with Peter Bacon and the IHF on the publication of that report. There is a supply issue, but there will not be a significant upswing in demand to match supply. There is a significant amount of debt hanging over the industry that questions the sustainability of the sector, which will have to be recycled to somewhere, but I do not have the answer to solving that issue.
Senator Mary White spoke about the Skelligs, which is a world heritage site. It is one of our icons and we use it extensively in advertising. I have not been in touch with the OPW, but I will bring the Senator's comments to the attention of Fáilte Ireland which is involved in those issues on the ground.
A member mentioned the Lonely Planet reference to Cork, which has presented us with a great opportunity to promote it. We have written to the Lord Mayor of Cork who will be seeking to bring in additional journalists to the country this year.
Our publicity programme is one of our hidden gems. We spend approximately €3 million per annum on it. We work with Fáilte Ireland which prepares the itineraries for the journalists and we bring them in from overseas. We bring in between 1,000 and 2,000 journalists per annum. Between the two organisations, this programme costs approximately €3 million last year. The estimated independent advertising of that promotion of Ireland, for example, if we had to pay for advertisements in The
Sunday Times or the USA Today , would have cost €197 million. That cost has been independently valued. A good example of such promotion was the “NBC Today Show” broadcast from Ireland during March last year, following the tragedies in Northern Ireland when two soldiers and a policeman were shot. The reassuring message Miriam O’Callaghan was able to bring to the audience of 10 million who watched that programme was invaluable because Americans are hugely sensitive about security issues.
The air travel tax was mentioned and it has received considerable coverage in the media. I am conscious it is a matter for the Government; it is not a matter for Tourism Ireland to get involved in taxation policy. I was a member of the Tourism Renewal Group chaired by Maurice Pratt, which recommended the abolition of travel tax, but that it is a matter for the Department of Finance. My personal view is that measures that reduce the cost of doing business are generally good but I am conscious of the current economic climate. Ryanair, Aer Lingus and CityJet commissioned a study carried out by a Dutch consultant towards the end of the year and it was submitted to the Department of Finance.
I might speak a little about Northern Ireland, which did not get an airing today. Northern Ireland has the legacy of the Troubles. It had a very low accommodation base. Very few tourists to Ireland would visit both jurisdictions. Perceptions of safety and security linger in the minds of the international traveller. We have an enormous job still to do in respect of Northern Ireland. We have developed relationships that we could not have developed in years gone by. There is a bigger investment in the accommodation base in Northern Ireland and new hotels have been opened in Belfast. Northern Ireland has a very good strategy for the development of its product, which is good news, but these things take time. The year 2012 will be quite a good one for Northern Ireland. It will probably get a bigger bounce out of the Olympic Games than the Republic of Ireland, just having the representation on the London group.
The anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic presents us with a significant opportunity to do something very big. We do not have many world icons such as the Eiffel Tower, but the Titanic is a great story. That is what the Northern Ireland story is all about, uncovering stories.
There is the Scots-Irish story in the United States. The US census records show that some 4 million people ticked their ancestry as being Ulster Scots or Scots-Irish. That provides us with an opportunity to promote an untold story that got buried in the times of the Troubles. It is one of looking at our ancestry, of a group of people on this island that emigrated 100 years before the Famine emigrants. We have lost touch with that story. We need to work on that and to become more aware that it is part of the heritage of this island. We need to work closely with others on that and we continue to do that.
July has been a very difficult month for Northern Ireland for obvious reasons. Relations have developed in the last number of years. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland will travel to our offices next Monday to continue what has been a five year dialogue in how we deal with the month of July. Unfortunately, it has had the most negative of connotations in terms of international media, but there are some people who are progressive, full of goodwill and willing to work on what is another all-island body to try to improve the perception of Northern Ireland around that time.
I thank the members for their comments about the ambitions of our programme. There is a lack of confidence in Ireland at present. The economic situation is very difficult. More than 200,000 people are employed in this sector and that number is declining. We need to get out and sell Ireland in a way that we have not done before. The chips are all against us at the moment. Economic forecasters are all telling us that tourism will decline by 2%. Tourism is our most important export sector, as far as we are concerned, although that is not to deny the importance of Intel and such like. Essentially, we are selling our personality and Tourism Ireland can only do so much. I know this is a sensitive area but I will stick my neck out and say that I hope Ministers will travel with us when we go abroad for St. Patrick's Day. We have a significant number of trade and media events already lined up. We are undertaking our biggest ever promotion of Ireland. Other countries are, pardon the pun, green with envy at the platform we have on 17 March.
We are very friendly with our colleagues in VisitBritain, but on St. Andrew's Day, St. David's Day, or St. George's Day our nearest neighbours have nothing like the platform we have on St. Patrick's Day. That platform is unparalleled and unrivalled. I know times are tough and this is a difficult and controversial issue, but I hope we get the maximum backing and that Ministers will be able to travel with us. if we do not get our product on the shelf, other destinations will come in and take our place. There is no point in wondering in five years' time why did that all happen. We have to go out and promote ourselves in a way that we have not done before and this is the year to do it. There are some things that we need to turn in our favour. We have no control over currency nor over the airlines, but if we can start to generate demand, those airlines will come back here. The only way to do that is by using shoe leather, sophisticated marketing and getting Ireland's name out there in a very strong manner. I thank the members for this opportunity to address them.
