Ireland still perceived as ‘too costly’

IRELAND is still perceived as an expensive location, according to tourism chiefs, who say business from Britain has collapsed.

The country also needs to cut back on its dependence on Ryanair and Aer Lingus and encourage more airlines into the market, according to the country’s hoteliers.

Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) president Paul Gallagher said the country has become reliant on Ryanair and Aer Lingus which between them account for almost 80% of flights into and out of Dublin.

Speaking at the Slieve Russell hotel in Cavan yesterday Mr Gallagher said the new government needs to provide greater financial incentives for other low-fare carriers to operate new routes into Ireland. He said Ryanair and Aer Lingus operate a “quasi duopoly” in the Irish market.

In response, a Ryanair spokesman said the airline has a policy of not commenting on “gross stupidity.”

He added: “The four million additional passengers Ryanair offered at Dublin and the one million additional passengers we offered at Shannon would go someway to filling the oversupply of hotel rooms in this godforsaken industry but with attitudes like this, is it any wonder the industry is in the state it is in.”

According to the managing director of the Tourism and Transport Consult, Noel Sweeney, there is still a lack of value in the Irish market. A report from the World Economic Forum has shown that Ireland is one of the most expensive places to holiday in the world.

Ireland is being outperformed by many other European countries when it comes to attracting tourists, with the report saying poor public transport and high prices resulted in Ireland falling from 18th to 21st out of 139 countries when measured on the factors and policies that make a travel and tourism industry attractive for development.

Ireland was ranked sixth from the bottom in purchasing power parity with just Denmark, Finland, Norway Luxembourg, and Switzerland placed as more expensive places to holiday.

Hoteliers also said they have concerns about the proposed scrapping of the €3 travel tax. Fine Gael and Labour propose to scrap the tax if carriers like Ryanair and Aer Lingus promise to reopen routes and bring more tourists to Ireland.

Mr Gallagher said removal of the €3 travel tax should be part of a wider effort to encourage other low fare airlines such as Bmibaby, Easyjet, GermanWings and Wizz Air to launch new routes into Ireland.

Meanwhile, Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland said feedback from the US, German and French markets is positive for this year.

He said the royal visit will be a “superb opportunity” to showcase Ireland. Tourism Ireland will spend €1 million this St Patrick’s Day promoting Ireland and is also putting plans in place for the Royal visit.