Sun shines on tourist industry as clouds lift

THE Irish tourist industry appeared to have had dark clouds hovering over it in recent months. And not just because of our unpredictable weather.

Soaring prices, the smoking ban, poor transport infrastructure, children barred from pubs after 9pm and a decline in the number of five-star hotels have contributed to the supposed doom and gloom for the industry.

Yet it looks like being another good year for Irish tourism.

New figures by the Central Statistics Office show the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in the first five months of 2004 has risen by 5.4% on the corresponding period last year.

A total of 2,347,800 foreign visitors were recorded arriving in Ireland between January and May - an increase of 121,100 over the same period in 2003.

With an almost 20% increase in the number of domestic holidays taken in the first quarter of 2004, there is reason to believe the Celtic Tiger is back to something approaching a roar for the tourism industry.

However, such raw data can also conceal problems in particular sectors of the market. For instance, domestic trips involving overnight stays in guesthouses and B&Bs actually fell by 7.4% in the first three months of this year, although there was a 15.7% rise in the corresponding number of stays in hotels.

Similarly, the latest statistics show the number of visitors from Britain so far this year is marginally down on the 2003 figures but has fallen by almost 11% in May compared to the same month last year.

In contrast, tourists from the US and Canada to Ireland have increased by over 17% between January and May and mainland European visitors have risen by 6.6%.

Nevertheless, tourism bosses are remaining circumspect about the outlook for the remainder of the year as the numbers visiting during the high season months have still to be determined.

Ireland West Tourism, which promotes Galway, Mayo and Roscommon said there were no official figures to date to pinpoint how successful tourism might be this year. However, senior tourism officer, Brian Quinn, said anecdotal evidence from hoteliers in the area supported claims that the number of US visitors had increased significantly.

“One of the important factors that we cannot measure yet is whether those increases will also translate to revenue,” said Mr Quinn.

He claimed tourism interests were also reporting that June and the first two weeks of July were quieter than expected but the situation would improve with the arts festival and race meeting taking place in Galway over the next few weeks.

Mr Quinn said one trend which had continued to emerge was a growing preference by tourists for short breaks which favoured urban rather than rural destinations.

Most industry sources said there had been a largely favourable response from overseas visitors to the smoking ban.

“It doesn’t really seem to be an issue. Most people have been far more concerned about restrictions on kids being allowed in pubs after early evening,” said one hotelier in Limerick.