More investment to support long-term growth
Fáilte Ireland East and Midlands cautiously optimistic about
2008 season
Fáilte Ireland East and Midlands, the body responsible for developing tourism in the region and Tourism Ireland, the body responsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas, met with the tourism industry interests in Enfield today to outline their plans for developing and promoting tourism in the region over the 2008 season.
Attending the meeting, Mr Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland said the fundamentals underlying tourism in the region remained relatively healthy although more investment would be necessary for sustained growth over the longer-term and that Fáilte Ireland would be making additional investment funding available. Turning to the coming season, Mr Quinn said that while 2007 appeared to have been a relatively good year for the region, conditions in 2008 could be more difficult in light of economic challenges internationally. “We cannot ignore the potential impact of stock market volatility and exchange rate movements on our business but it is much too early to speculate on any impact at this stage. We can only strive to offer the very best value we can and make every effort to minimise costs without compromising on quality.” He noted that in the home market, which was important in the region, there was potential for further but more modest growth rates to be achieved.
Commenting on Fáilte Ireland plans for the coming season, he said that the priorities were to almost double investment in new and existing tourist attractions and related infrastructure and to provide more practical business supports to tourism enterprises. This should include helping the industry to develop more overseas business and ensure that strong web presence is in place. However, while the tourism authority is cautious about 2008, recent research from Fáilte Ireland has indicated that the tourism industry is very optimistic about its prospects for the year ahead with nine in 10 accommodation providers believing that their overseas business this year will be at least as good as or even better than in 2007. Mr Quinn also indicated that Fáilte Ireland is to launch its biggest ever ‘Discover Ireland’ campaign, which aims to encourage Irish people to take a break at home.
Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Paul O’Toole said that overseas tourism contributed an estimated €2.4 billion in revenue to the regions outside Dublin last year, representing 61% of the total revenue generated from overseas tourism. “2007 was another relatively good year for overseas tourism; preliminary figures show that the Midlands East region experienced holiday visitor growth of 8%, albeit a more modest increase in overall visitor numbers. Tourism Ireland remains focused on growing tourism to all regions and this year we will invest an estimated €5 million specifically on additional co-operative marketing campaigns with Regional and Industry partners overseas”. On a cautionary note, Paul O’Toole pointed to a challenging year ahead for overseas tourism. “Global economic uncertainty, the weak dollar and a softening in consumer confidence generally all make for a more difficult business environment. Every year brings new challenges and I am confident that, working in close partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the industry, we can overcome these hurdles and succeed in growing tourism to the island of Ireland again in 2008. It will be more important than ever, however, that our tourism product and service is top class and above all that the consumer gets good value for money,” said O’Toole.
Ireland East and Midlands
Preliminary figures for overseas visitors in 2007 suggest that Ireland East and Midlands experienced above average growth with an approximate eight per cent increase on 2006. Mr Quinn noted the region’s outstanding performance in the domestic tourism market where total domestic visitors increased by 29 per cent on the previous year. Shaun Quinn said, “The spatial development of tourism across all regions continues to be a key priority for Fáilte Ireland. We are continuing to invest significantly in upgrading and expanding the range of tourist attractions and activities across regions to broaden visitor appeal. This is necessary in order to ensure that the long-term development of tourism in Ireland is secure. The new regional tourism strategy, which was launched in the East and Midlands in October, provides a road map setting out how all of the industry, including both the public and private sectors, can most effectively contribute to the further development of sustainable and economically beneficial tourism.”
During 2007, Fáilte Ireland launched its Tourism Product Development Strategy, whereby the agency will invest €137m in capital investment projects. Since its launch, Fáilte Ireland has invested almost €1.5m in tourism infrastructure and facilities in the East and Midlands including the Athlone Centre of Angling Excellence, the Heritage Walking Route in Co. Meath, and Bray-Greystones Cliff Walk Improvements, a heritage walking route in Meath and the restoration of the Leixlip Spa and Waterfall. As part of the new cycling strategy a number of hub towns have been created with the support of local authorities and the assistance of NDP Infrastructure Grants. Work is currently underway in developing day and half day signed looped routes in a number of centres around the country.
In addition over 50 new walks were constructed and marked and have been uploaded on the Fáilte Ireland website with downloadable maps. These walks include Drewstown in Meath, Carlingford in Louth, Glenbarrow in Laois and Glendalough in Wicklow which have been developed with the assistance of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The promotion of festivals throughout the country continues to be a focus for the tourism authority and during 2007 over €600,000 was allocated to more than 30 festivals across the East and Midlands. These included the Bray Jazz Festival, the Ardee Baroque Festival, the Drogheda Arts Festival, the Tullamore Phoenix Festival, and the Greystones Art Festival.
The recruitment and training of people to work in tourism remains a key issue for the industry across all regions. Fáilte Ireland will provide financial support for 348 students in both the Athlone Institute of Technology and in the Dundalk Institute of Technology who are pursuing accredited skills courses in tourism and hospitality. Continuing on from its success in 2007, Fáilte Ireland will run five Tourism Learning Networks in the East and Midlands region. The networks will also be expanded to facilitate the tourism enterprises that participated in 2007 and will offer further support to these businesses going forward into 2008.
Outlining Tourism Ireland’s priority action areas for 2008, Paul O’Toole said that improving the distribution of tourism to more rural areas continues to be a priority for the organisation. “The new co-operative regional marketing campaigns launched last year worked well in overseas markets and delivered results. We have refreshed and enhanced these campaigns for the regions this year. In Great Britain, for example, the successful region-to-region approach capitalising on the excellent access links between specific areas of Britain and the regions of Ireland will continue. A new car touring campaign is planned to attract those visitors who either bring their own car to Ireland or who come here and hire one. Research shows that visitors who travel by car stay longer and tour the countryside more extensively,” said Paul O’Toole.
Commenting on the major review of the Ireland brand undertaken by Tourism Ireland last year, Paul O’Toole said that the review confirmed that Ireland remains a strongly motivating and attractive proposition for holidaymakers in key markets. “However, it also confirmed that, in this highly competitive global marketplace, the Ireland brand will need to differentiate itself even more strongly if we are to deliver the required growth in overseas revenue and visitor numbers. We will be putting more emphasis on the diversity of holiday experiences available in the Midlands East region and other regions in our marketing campaigns. Tourism Ireland intends to bring a new focus to the expression of the brand, with an emphasis on “the island of unique Character and Characters”.
For 2008, Tourism Ireland has extended the number of overseas marketing opportunities available to the industry in Ireland and has developed a range of new marketing packages which will enable industry, big or small, to promote their product or service directly to the overseas consumer. “In an increasingly competitive climate, with new and emerging destinations fighting for share, consumers are spoilt for choice. If we want to convert ‘lookers’ into ‘bookers’ we need to tempt them with attractive and compelling offers,” said Paul O’Toole.
Chairman for Fáilte Ireland East and Midlands, Pierce Molony, said: “2007 was a watershed year for tourism in the East and Midlands. It was the first full year of the new Fáilte Ireland Board in the region and the first regional tourism development plan has been prepared. Now the responsibility falls on us all to work together to deliver our ambitious targets. The strong cohesiveness which has now emerged in the various public sector bodies, in particular our local authorities and leader companies, to work together to deliver a more joined up and collective approach is most welcome. I have no doubts that if the industry and Fáilte Ireland can develop a strong partnership it will drive growth and allow the tourism industry to reach the huge potential that currently exists.”
