Tourism figures on course to reach ambitious targets, says O’Donoghue
Mr O’Donoghue said if official Central Statistics Office figures, which showed the number of visitors had grown by almost 5% up to the end of September, were maintained over the final quarter, Irish tourism would have met highly ambitious targets set at the start of the year. Early estimates also indicate revenue earnings are up by around 4% over the same period.
“It is worth emphasising that these targets were set this time last year, before Iraq and SARS emerged as critical setbacks for the tourism sector globally,” said Mr O’Donoghue.
On prospects for 2004, Mr O’Donoghue said early indications were the tourism industry would see continued improvement, based on a return to normality in the global, political and economic environment and continued growth in new air routes serving Ireland.
“The medium to long-term outlook for the tourism sector remains bright. However, while we have seen a return to growth this year, there is no room for complacency,” he warned.
In an end-of-year statement on tourism performance in 2003 released yesterday, he pointed out that this year’s results are only marginally behind the record levels set in 2000.
The minister contrasted the Irish performance with the forecast by the World Tourism Organisation that the out-turn for global tourism in 2003 would be between -1% and +1%.
Mr O’Donoghue attributed impressive growth figures of 6% in the North American market to the restoration of key access routes and increased capacity to the US.
He also welcomed an estimated 8% increase in the number of visitors from continental Europe. Having taken part in a number of promotional visits organised by Tourism Ireland during the year, Mr O’Donoghue said the highly focussed approach of such campaigns meant growth in the European market following years of stagnation came as no surprise.
“It is also clear that Ireland is not only growing business in absolute terms, but is winning market share in these vital markets. The challenge going forward will be to maintain competitiveness in a way that is economically sustainable for the sector. While there is nothing new in this, the prevailing economic conditions mean that it is a substantially more difficult balance to strike,” he said.
Looking back on developments in tourism policy over the past 12 months, Mr O’Donoghue highlighted the establishment of Fáilte Ireland as the national tourism development authority and the completion of the first major review of tourism policy in the 1990s.
“The review provides a clear framework for policy development over the next decade, including over 70 concrete recommended actions to be pursued within the first two-year rolling plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, tour operators have predicted they will enjoy the busiest January ever as thousands of holiday-makers book early for the summer season.
The Irish Tour Operators Federation anticipates huge demand for sun holidays as the price of many package deals have been kept the same as 2003 levels.
The ITOF claims the sector experienced a 5% growth in the number of Irish people going on package holidays over the past year despite the increase in new routes by budget airlines. Approximately 1.1 million people went on sun holidays in 2003.
