Tourism should not just be for the summer
Ireland needs to create the attractions, events and value offering that will entice tourists to come here all year long — and to venture outside the big cities, writes
Tourism is soaring but there are big challenges ahead — how do we sustain the success of 2018?
Following what has been a record-breaking season for tourism, with overseas tourist numbers likely to hit 9.6m by the end of 2018, most people would be forgiven for thinking that the sector is motoring along fine.
And why not assume that?
After all, we’ve had record tourist numbers for the last three years or so.
Indeed, overseas tourist numbers have grown 53% since 2012. In the same period, tourism spending has risen by an impressive 84%.
This means around €1.8bn in Exchequer revenue — roughly the equivalent of €1,000 per household in Ireland.
So Irish tourism is in a good place. However, I would argue that it could — and should — be in a greater place. When you look under the hood, there are many obstacles and challenges holding tourism performance back which may surprise many outside the industry.
Our own Fáilte Ireland research indicates that more than 70% of overseas nights are spent in just five counties.
This points to a regional disparity which needs to be addressed. If we don’t, we face the prospect of congestion at popular tourism hotspots diminishing the attractiveness of Ireland as a destination.
More importantly, if we cannot ensure a greater regional spread of tourism activity, the sector’s potential for generating revenue and jobs will remain untapped in many parts of Ireland which are very much in need of regeneration.
Working with the trade, we are already seeing the start of increased regional dispersion with overseas holiday bed-nights outside Dublin growing by 7% last year compared to 1% in the city. But there is a lot more
we need to do.
What does this look like in practice? Well, for example, it would mean that along the Wild Atlantic Way growth rates could become more significant north of Galway into the north-west, where hidden gems such as Sliabh Liag can rival any top destination.
We have placed greater emphasis on promoting and developing the northern stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way to tap into the potential there.
Equally, more regional activity will result in tourists spending a greater portion of their stay within the east and Midlands rather than simply transiting through from Dublin to the west.
Our Ireland’s Ancient East brand has already reaped results in driving greater tourism activity into that part of the country and we have similar hopes for Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, our newest regional brand, which was unveiled for the Midlands earlier this year.
However, there is much more to be done and we are nowhere near where we need to be in terms of a healthy spatial spread of tourism.
Another fact that may surprise people outside the industry, is that many tourism businesses are only open for a few months of the year — with some only trading for 10-12 weeks. For many in the sector, the tourism season is a very short one and this does not necessarily need to be so.
Our seasonality strategy is now delivering higher growth — in 2017, overseas trips to Ireland between September and December grew by 6% compared to 3% growth between May and August.
However, we need to continue to support businesses to stay open longer so they can extend their season, and thereby increase their revenue and job creation.
To do this, we need to create the attractions, events, and value offering that will entice tourists to come here beyond the summer.
This must include smart programming of our festivals calendar, price-led offers from tourism businesses in spring and autumn, and the development of new tourist experiences and attractions.
On the latter, investment in the right type of large-scale tourism attractions and new all-weather/family friendly attractions can broaden and enhance Ireland’s overall appeal and help target tourists who like to travel off season.
The incremental benefit of a longer season is important when you consider that every extra 1,000 overseas tourists supports 20 jobs in tourism — and this is particularly crucial in the regions.
If more businesses stay open for longer, and if many stay open all year round, this can ensure that tourism realises the potential it has for jobs and revenue in remoter parts of rural Ireland which few other industries have.
These job opportunities need to be matched with appropriately skilled people to deliver the level of service tourists expect.
It goes without saying that the greatest cloud on our outlook for the year ahead is Brexit. For tourism, the most certain uncertainty in this respect is that we will lose tourists from our biggest and nearest overseas market, Great Britain.
But a less obvious consequence is that we are at risk of missing out on tourists from other markets, as Britain is our greatest competitor and the weakening value of sterling could make it more attractive to long-haul tourists, as well as those from Northern Europe.
It is these challenges, along with the need to strengthen our value-for-money offering, that were the key focuses as we unveiled our 2019 plans to hundreds of tourism businesses and operators from across the country.
Our central message to them is that, although there are big challenges ahead — not least the increased Vat rate they will all need to contend with next year — there are numerous opportunities which can offset this turbulence and help us to sustain the success we’ve worked so hard to achieve in recent years.
We have increased air access from regions such as the US, Canada, Europe, and Britain and increased sea access from Britain and Europe, as well as increased state investment in product development, industry development and sales and marketing support.
At Fáilte Ireland, we will continue to play our part in supporting the industry to overcome these challenges and leverage the opportunities that lie ahead in 2019.
Promoting the many and varied career opportunities there are in tourism, developing new festivals to lengthen the tourism season, and working on long-term tourism development plans for specific geographical locations are just some of the initiatives we will focus on in the coming year to ensure that Ireland remains a top player in the international marketplace.
Our latest estimates now show that we will have welcomed more than 9.6m overseas tourists and 9.8m domestic trips this year, generating €7.8bn in revenue.
There is now an impressive 260,000 people estimated to be employed in the sector, an increase of 20,000 since 2017. In fact, it employs more than Agriculture, Financial Services or Construction.
This growth in revenue, and its ability to spur employment, underscores the vital importance of tourism for Ireland.
Its importance is even greater when you consider the fact that this growth in revenue and jobs is generated in many parts of the country where there are not many other major industries and where tourism is absolutely vital to local communities.
It’s clear that Irish tourism has made a tremendous impact in recent years, but as an industry we cannot rest on our laurels if we are to sustain this success.
Looking to the future, we know there are challenges but, more importantly, there is significantly more opportunity for further growth in tourism to increase economic contribution, employment and Exchequer revenue.
With the right coordination between public sector agencies, private businesses, the wider tourism industry and local communities to grow tourism more evenly across the regions and throughout the year, we can move from today’s strong contributions to even greater days ahead.
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