Fewer tourists visiting the countryside
A Government report on tourism has found that the number of visitors to rural areas is dwindling.
The Tourism Policy Review Group said tourism provided 150,000 jobs and generated €5.3bn to the economy in 2005.
The sector was hampered by several factors including high prices, congestion at Dublin Airport and the fall in the number of tourists visiting rural areas.
Tourism Minister John O’Donghue said: “The importance of tourism to the Irish economy cannot be understated.
“The overall growth target in visitor numbers for 2006 is 5%, which would see Ireland attracting over seven million visitors for the first time. We cannot afford to be complacent about our tourism revenue, however, with competition from ever-increasing new tourism destinations.
“The falling numbers of visitors to rural areas is also a worrying trend that needs to be tackled. The work of the Implementation Group has proved invaluable in highlighting both the advances and barriers to achieving Ireland’s full tourism potential.”
The Group was appointed by Mr O’Donoghue in January 2004 to implement the New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action study published in September 2003.
The strategy aims to achieve €6bn in foreign revenue and 10 million annual visitors by 2012, as part of 70 key recommendations.
The Group’s chairman, John Travers, said he was satisfied with the progress made in implementing the strategy.
Mr Travers praised better air access from the UK, Europe and the US and moves to build a National Conference Centre.
He said Budget 2006 provided investment opportunities for regional airports and funding was committed to the Abbey Theatre, the National Concert Hall, the Gaiety Theatre, the Wexford Theatre Royal and the Lansdowne Road stadium.
The Report also pointed to a number of key barriers to tourism development:
:: The loss of competitiveness by the tourism sector in recent years;
:: The closure of traditional long-term public access to areas of the countryside;
:: The fall in visitors to rural areas;
:: The less than satisfactory experiences of visitors at Dublin Airport;
:: The disadvantage in attracting conference business because of the differences in the Irish VAT regime compared to that of other EU countries.
