Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2024
14. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the additional measures she has put in place to support downstream businesses whose revenue has dropped mainly due to the fact local tourism accommodation is being used to accommodate Ukrainians, refugees and international protection applicants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17060/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra15. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the details of the mitigation measures being considered to cover losses in ancillary tourist services, due to tourist accommodation being utilised for other uses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16833/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra17. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will expedite a review and provide supports to address the lack of hotel beds for the tourism sector in Drogheda, the largest town in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16857/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 15 and 17 together.
The importance of the tourism sector to the Irish economy and communities in every corner of Ireland is well understood and it is recognised that the use of tourist accommodation to support the Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis has impacted the sector, including in locations such as Drogheda.
Fáilte Ireland's analysis, as of November 2023, showed that 12% of all registered tourism accommodation stock nationally was under contract to the State. An additional amount of tourism-type accommodation that is not registered with Fáilte Ireland is also contracted to the state.
In Budget 2024, I secured a total funding of €216 million for the sector which will allow for continued support for tourism development at home and amongst overseas visitors. Within this overall allocation, I made up to €10 million available for a specific programme of supports targeted at tourism businesses experiencing particular challenges linked to the reduction in footfall in regions most impacted by tourism bed stock displacement. This programme of supports, developed and administered by Fáilte Ireland, includes a business support scheme, investment in sustainable tourism development and promotion, industry digitalisation, promotion of domestic tourism and festivals, and recruitment and retention initiatives.
The scheme has been specifically developed to support activity and attraction businesses that were most impacted in 2023 by the displacement of tourism accommodation stock. It involves a one-off Business Support Grant payment and applications for this grant were accepted between the 4 March and 12 April 2024. Fáilte Ireland is currently assessing those applications.
On the wider question of the use of tourism bedstock for humanitarian accommodation purposes, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth recently secured the Government's approval for a new comprehensive accommodation strategy for International Protection applicants that will see a move away from full reliance on private providers towards a core of state-owned accommodation, delivering 14,000 state-owned beds by 2028. This approach will over time, help to reduce the reliance on tourism accommodation.
Fáilte Ireland has carried out a number of accommodation audits to establish a baseline for existing tourism accommodation capacity for local authorities in each destination and region. This includes a quality and gap analysis for additional accommodation development on a county-by-county basis along with the projected accommodation requirements. Additional capacity supply growth projections have been identified for all counties based on best estimates of demand recovery to 2030, the current gaps in the market by location and type, and changing consumer preferences for accommodation categories. These projections recommend a phased pipeline of new supply in line with location-specific demand drivers based on identified gaps in the market.
This year, Fáilte Ireland intends to secure services for the development of a monitoring system to track the pipeline of tourist accommodation in Ireland focusing on planning, construction commencement and opening phases of development. This will allow Fáilte to pinpoint challenges that exist in terms of the development of tourism accommodation and to measure their impact.
Furthermore, Fáilte Ireland’s statutory register of all Short-Term Tourist Letting accommodation in the State will, when implemented, provide a full picture of the stock of tourist accommodation. This will enhance Fáilte Ireland’s ability to promote wider tourism investment. In addition, the combined insights of the accommodation audits and the Register will help shape and inform Ireland’s long-term accommodation development plans to meet changing consumer demands and trends.
With regard to the specific tourism accommodation stock challenge for the tourism sector in Drogheda, tourism is a recognised critical element for regional social and economic development in the town. Drogheda is a key part of the Ancient Destination Experience Development Plan which is the Fáilte Ireland roadmap for development of tourism in regions such as the Boyne Valley and environs.
I welcome the collaboration between Fáilte Ireland and Louth County Council on the potential development of an attraction of scale focused on the Boyne as the development of such attractions is a key element underpinning a strong regional distribution of tourism across the country.
The role of Drogheda as a key entry point to the tourism and heritage attractions of the Boyne Valley is recognised by the significant funding which Fáilte has allocated to the town under its Urban Animation scheme in order to bring landmark buildings and structures in Drogheda’s historic landscape to life. While the challenges experienced by Drogheda due to displacement of tourism accommodation are not unique they serve as an exemplar of similar challenges across the country which must be addressed on the basis of sustained and strategic inter-agency collaboration.
More broadly therefore, Fáilte Ireland will continue to work in partnership with Government, state agencies, local authorities, representative groups and industry to develop tourism across Ireland by creating destination development plans and networks, investing in infrastructure, activities, visitor attractions and festivals. Fáilte Ireland also provides consumer and buyer insights, mentoring, business supports and training programmes and buyer platforms to help tourism businesses innovate and grow.
In addition, Fáilte Ireland supports business tourism, managing the bidding for and securing of larger conferences, meetings and events to be hosted in Ireland. It is also responsible for domestic holiday marketing across four regional experience brands, namely the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and Dublin.
In 2024 Fáilte Ireland has a programme of cross sectoral supports as follows:
- Domestic marketing campaigns supporting revenue generation.
- Digitalisation delivering commercial benefits in both revenue generation and operational efficiencies.
- A Careers in Tourism programme to help deliver higher retention and attraction of staff in and to the sector.
Furthermore, my Department is progressing the development of a new national tourism policy framework that will seek to mainstream sustainability – environmental, economic and societal – across the entire tourism sector. The new framework will shape how our tourism industry develops in the period to 2030. While I want to see the tourism sector grow, I want it to do so in a manner that is consistent with Ireland’s broader sustainability targets and ultimately ensures that Ireland will be a brand leader in sustainable tourism practices.
While initial consultations with key stakeholders were completed in 2023, I want to give everybody the opportunity to influence the future direction of Irish tourism. Accordingly, the Department recently launched an online survey seeking the views of the public to help finalise the framework. The online consultation is open until 26 April 2024. It is hoped to have the new policy framework finalised and published in the coming months. Issues around accommodation stock will be considered as part of the new policy framework and subsequent action plan.
When we look at the wider economy and the particular set of challenges facing the tourism industry, it is clear that a collective and concerted multi-stakeholder approach to tackling these challenges is required and that is the approach that this Department and the Government will continue to pursue.
