Decisive action needed to help tourism sector

IVAN Yates is absolutely right when he calls for the appointment of a “tourism tsar” (Irish Examiner, Feb 4).

Tourism is now our largest indigenous industry creating revenues of €5.2bn in 2009 of which €1.2bn directly benefits the exchequer as taxation. Tourism in Ireland must be developed and supported in a far more cohesive way in order to capitalise on the huge potential that it offers the country to recover from the recession and to generate much needed spending especially at a regional level.

Government invests in excess of €500m every year in the national agencies including Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and through arts and sports funding. However, we have huge potential to grow our visitor numbers to in excess of 10 million per annum, and as such to literally drive much needed revenues into our country (€3.9bn in 2009). The decline in overseas visitors of nearly 12% is alarming and needs to be addressed.