Tourism body urges government investment

Michael Noonan must fund tourism in the upcoming budget, the ITIC has said

Continued investment in tourism is vital in the upcoming budget if the area is to remain viable in the coming years.

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With the Budget on the horizon, various areas and industries are beginning the process of lobbying the government, and today the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation called on the  Minister for Finance to increase investment in the industry when preparing the annual budget report. In its pre-budget submission, ITIC argues that this investment is vital to underpin the strong recovery that has taken hold recently. Its proposal is for the equivalent of at least 1% of annual export earnings from tourism to be provided in the next five years from 2016.

Tourism is currently thriving in Ireland, with a record year expected to exceed the 7.7 million visitors in the peak year of 2007. Strong growth in the United States and UK is said to be a contributory factor to this, powered by favourable exchange rates. This is encouraging, but the ITIC has also outlined areas which it sees as cause for concern:

• Cost Competitiveness
• Falling investment in overseas marketing
• The need for increased investment in product

“Ireland remains a high cost location,” said ITIC chairman Paul Gallagher, “and addressing Ireland’s international cost competitiveness must remain a key economic priority for government. Cost inputs are experiencing increased upwards pressure, including labour costs, and the industry is completely disadvantaged.”

Gallagher also expressed concern at a 40% drop in destination marketing over the past seven years, which came despite greater competition in the marketplace. The ITIC has called for a significant reversal of this trend.

He added that capital investment in tourism is urgently needed if Ireland’s tourism industry is to continue to to generate increased spending from overseas visitors and achieve the government’s target of 10m visitors spending €5bn annually by 2025.

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