€35m to be spent marketing Irish tourism

More money €35m is to be spent on promoting Irish tourism next year, the Book of Estimates has revealed.

The 2005 Book of Estimates has earmarked €35.78m for tourism marketing which is an increase of 14%. This €35.78m will come from a total allocated spend of €124m on tourism.

The total for the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism is €445.7m.

The allocation has provided for a €3.6m increase in funding for Fáilte Ireland.

Minister John O'Donoghue says the funding will help Irish tourism respond to the challenges facing the sector.

The tourism sector currently supports more than 140,00 jobs while annual foreign revenue earnings from tourism now amount to €4.1bn and the number of overseas visitors has now reached 6.2m.