Call for free travel here to attract EU senior citizens

FREE travel in Ireland for all European Union senior citizens would encourage millions of visitors to visit Ireland, say the country’s hoteliers.

Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Martin Cullen said a push by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) to introduce free travel for all EU citizens over 66 years of age is a novel idea.

“We’ll have to look and see how we do it but it’s imaginative and maybe it’s this sort of thinking outside the box that we have to do at the moment,” he said.

The IHF said that costs of such as scheme would be minimal as it said the state already subsidies CIE by over €320 million a year adding that it appears there is “substantial excess capacity on rail and bus services particularly at off peak times”.

IHF president Matthew Ryan said: “Older people have the time, discretionary income and inclination to travel and we should position ourselves to benefit from this growing market.”

The IHF is also proposing a common visa area for Ireland and Britain as well as the removal of passport controls at ports of entry for all travel from Britain.

“India and China are the two fastest growing source markets of international tourists and offer substantial potential from which Ireland could benefit. It is a major disincentive that citizens of these countries visiting Britain and Ireland currently need both a UK and an Irish visa this adds both bureaucratic inconvenience,” said Mr Ryan.

The IHF also said banks need to deliver on their obligations under the Government recapitalisation scheme and immediately increase lending to small and medium businesses.

The hoteliers said banks are treating hotels and guesthouses as a high risk sector which they believe may be contributing to the reluctance to provide adequate working capital facilities.