Tackle high prices, warns tourism watchdog

HIGH prices and a lack of competitiveness continue to dog the tourism sector, despite action by the Government and the industry to tackle the problem, a tourism watchdog warned yesterday.

While publicans and hoteliers have blamed factors like the smoking ban and the 9pm ban on children in pubs for a fall-off in business, the high-level group charged with implementing the Government’s tourism plan said price competitiveness needs to be tackled urgently.

Backing up that view, inflation figures yesterday showed that the cost of living fell slightly to 2.6% last month, but the price of hotel accommodation soared by 10% in the past year, while hotel and restaurant prices together went up by 4.5% over the same period.

The Tourism Action Group said there are issues outside the control of the industry undermining Ireland’s competitiveness in the tourism market, but price escalation in tourism products and services was contributing in its own right to the general high rates of inflation.

The group’s chairman, John Travers, said that so far in 2004, visitor numbers and receipts from a number of markets were showing a creditable performance.

But he said the number of British tourists so far this year was showing little or no growth and this was a cause for concern, while he added that visitor numbers were not being spread evenly across the country.

“It appears that a number of regions and sectors are missing out on the increases that are taking place,” he said.

Pointing to what he described as overall reasonable progress on the Government’s tourism action plan, Mr Travers said the lack of progress in certain areas was blocking the potential for tourism growth.

Barriers to the development of the tourism industry included value for money and facilities at Dublin Airport, while areas where the strategy wasn’t up to scratch included the building of a National Conference Centre and the National Roads Programme and signposting.

Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue said the report showed his tourism strategy was being well supported by Government departments.

However, the Labour Party said Ireland was in danger of pricing itself out of the tourism industry.

Labour consumer affairs spokeswoman Kathleen Lynch said the country was jeopardising its status as a holiday destination with exorbitant accommodation and restaurant costs.

Also yesterday, Justice Minister Michael McDowell officially confirmed he is prepared to look at extending the watershed time on the ban on children in pubs from 9pm to 10pm in the summer months.

Mr McDowell said the possible change, first reported in the Irish Examiner, was being looked at in view of concerns about particular difficulties during the traditional family holiday season.

After meeting with hotel, pub and off-licence industry representatives, Mr McDowell said he was going to ask the Garda Commissioner to get the gardaí to keep a close eye on the sale of the controversial vodka sachets, which licensed trade bodies have told their members not to stock.