Tourists give ‘rip-off’ Ireland a miss

MOST overseas visitors to Ireland see it as a rip-off and it looks like they are voting with their feet as a result.

In a survey carried out by Bord Fáilte, only 43% of overseas visitors regard Ireland as good value for money. This is a big decline on the 58% in 2001 and the high of 61% in the millennium year.

The figure for mainland Europe, at 24%, is particularly bad, and reflects the transparency of costs since the introduction of the euro at the beginning of the year. Most sectors of the industry have seen a drop in numbers from our main overseas markets, and the prospects for 2003 look no better.

The aspects of Ireland most frequently mentioned as offering poor value are eating out, drink, food purchased in supermarkets and the cost of living generally.

With the introduction of the euro, it is now easy for visitors from eurozone countries to compare prices. The same is true of US visitors, as the dollar effectively trades at parity with the euro.

Only British tourists still see Ireland as providing reasonable value for their pound with 52% of them satisfied with our costs, but even this is far below the 73% result for 2000 and reflects the strong buying power of sterling.

Prices have risen 22% in Ireland since 1996 but by only 11% across the EU as a whole. The cost of drink and accommodation has soared by a third in Ireland since the end of 1996.

According to Bord Fáilte acting chief executive Niall Reddy, this is a worrying development. “While the downturn in world economies and September 11 were external factors, they should not mask growing concerns about the price and quality of the product that we now offer.”

Although total overseas visitors to Ireland in 2002 are up marginally on last year, they are still down on 2000 levels. Recovery from the US market has yet to materialise.US visitors are likely to be down 10% on last year.

Visitors from mainland Europe, while again marginally up on last year, also remain down on 2000. Only Britain has returned to 2000 levels this year. However, recovery is evident in the self-catering and hostel sectors. Seven in 10 self-catering operators claim business is the same or up on 2001.