Tourism Ireland to invest in ferries market

The head of Tourism Ireland Paul O’Toole has said he hopes the recent Irish Ferris dispute will not have a long-term negative effect on travelling by boat, as his organisation seeks to market Ireland abroad as a holiday destination.

So far this year, airlines are reporting healthy growth in booking and a high volume of seat sales.

But a late Easter, bad weather and the shift towards low cost air-carriers is producing mixed reports from the ferry companies.

However, Mr O'Toole, said that they are not a lost cause: “The people who come here by ferry, who bring their car, tend to stay longer, travel further and spend more.

“So while there is still a decline, more than 500,000 people come by ferry and we’re not going to give up on the ferry sector because the people who do come by ferry are desirable to us and therefore we’re making an increased investment to match our investment in air access.”