Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 December 2015
184. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of tourists who have visited this country in each of the past five years to date; the degree to which he has identified the future growth opportunities for all segments of the tourism sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45635/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile overall responsibility for publication of statistics lies with the Central Statistics Office, according to the CSO, the number of visits to Ireland for each of the past 5 years were as follows:
2010=6,037,100; 2011=6,505,200; 2012=6,517,200; 2013=6,985,900 and 2014=7,604,400.
Latest official data on overseas travel from the CSO shows an increase of 12.8% in overseas visits to Ireland for the first ten months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.
The Government's Tourism Policy Statement "People, Place and Policy – Growing Tourism to 2025" was launched in March of this year. It acknowledges that generating increased levels of overseas revenue is key for the future of Irish tourism. The main targets contained in the Tourism Policy Statement, to be achieved by 2025, are as follows:
- Overseas tourism revenue to increase to €5 billion net of inflation, compared to €3.5 billion in 2014;
- Overseas visits to Ireland to increase to ten million, compared to 7.6 million in 2014; and
- 250,000 people to be employed in the tourism sector, compared to 205,000 at present.
Earlier this year, I appointed a Tourism Leadership Group, to put in place a Tourism Action Plan that will set out the actions required in the period to 2018 to achieve the overall objectives in "People, Place and Policy – Growing Tourism to 2025" and ensure the strong growth experienced in recent years continues. I intend to publish the Tourism Action Plan in the first quarter of 2016.
