Tourism target: FF wants 10m visitors

IRELAND should be welcoming 10 million visitors by 2012 — that’s the target set by Fianna Fáil in its tourism manifesto, launched yesterday.

Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue said indications were positive for the future, and a growth target of 5.6% in overseas visitor numbers has been set for the current year.

Last year, 7.7m visitors from overseas came here, marking our fifth consecutive year of sustained growth.

The home holiday market, which is now the mainstay of many hotels, also surged ahead, recording a 9% growth in spending.

Income from tourism, last year, increased to almost €5 billion and employment in the sector grew to almost 250,000.

Speaking at the launch, in Killarney, Mr O’Donoghue said the Government was committed to an €800m tourism programme made up of:

* An international marketing strategy, which provides €335m to promote the island of Ireland in key international markets.

* A product development and infrastructure programme, including €317m to upgrade and supplement tourist attractions and activities, and to deliver a National Conference Centre in Dublin.

* A training and human resource development strategy, which providing €148m towards the upgrading of firms in the sector, and the provision of appropriate training for all staff.

While accommodation had expanded and improved greatly in the last decade, Mr O’Donoghue said what was now needed was a change in mindset from “places to stay” to “things to do”.

He added: “This is what all of our visitors — families, older couples, younger singles — are seeking.”

Tourism Ireland’s new website, — discover ireland.com — now promotes the island of Ireland in 35 markets worldwide in 14 different languages. Five million people visited this site in 2006.

Mr O’Donoghue said the recently agreed Open Skies agreement, which opens up new routes from the US, represented a major boost for Irish tourism.

In relation to regional tourism, he said the €86m allocated to the six regional airports would hope bring more tourists to them areas served by the airports.

He also emphasised the importance of sports tourism, pointing to the success of the Ryder Cup, which was held last September in the K Club, Co Kildare.