Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 November 2016
179. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of tourists who visited counties Sligo and Leitrim each year since 2011; the benefits the Wild Atlantic Way could bring to these counties into the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33135/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraResearch shows that there is low awareness of Ireland's county boundaries among potential overseas visitors, indicating that expenditure on marketing an individual county to consumers in overseas markets would be unlikely to provide an adequate return on investment. The tourism agencies are instead developing and promoting tourism propositions of scale (e.g. the Wild Atlantic Way), capable of achieving international impact and securing consumer attention.
The collection and publication of official statistics is a matter for the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which is under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach. Official overseas visitor statistics can be found in the Tourism and Travel section of the CSO website but are not available at county-level.
Fáilte Ireland publishes its own estimates of overseas and domestic visit numbers and revenue by county. The most recent published statistics go up to 2015 and are available in the Research section of the Fáilte Ireland website at www.failteireland.ie. However, it should be noted that, due to the small sample sizes which breaking out counties leads to, these figures are based on three-year rolling averages, not a given year.
My role, as the Minister with responsibility for tourism, is to develop national tourism policy which is then implemented by the tourism agencies - Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. Fáilte Ireland is responsible for the development of regional tourism and Tourism Ireland has responsibility for the overseas promotion of the island of Ireland as a tourism destination. On the subject of the benefits of the Wild Atlantic Way for Sligo and Leitrim in the future, this is a matter for the board and management of Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred the question to the agency for direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
