Transport, Tourism and Sport: Tourism Growth 27th June 2013

To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which the tourism industry has grown so far in 2013; the expectations for the remainder of the year; the degree to which various sectors have benefited from The Gathering; the beneficial impact likely by the year’s end; if there are any particular issues needing attention for the future development of tourism; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Bernard Durkan TD

Answered by the Minister of State for Sports and Tourism
Michael Ring

REPLY

I propose to take questions   8 ,16 , 29 and    57   together.   They relate to the performance of tourism.
 
Over €37 million has been allocated in 2013   for general overseas tourism marketing which is enabling  Tourism Ireland to  roll out a major consumer marketing campaign to promote Ireland  and “The Gathering Ireland 2013” in  all our key markets. This is supplemented by a special provision in the 2013 Estimates  for Fáilte Ireland of €7 million for The Gathering,  to be used exclusively to fund the promotion, development and legacy of the event and complements support for the initiative from the tourism agencies’ mainstream activities and from national and local partners.
 
The general response to the Gathering at home and abroad has been overwhelmingly positive. There are now over 4,000 individual gatherings confirmed on the Gathering website with new ones  added daily.  Gatherings are happening throughout the country and, according to Fáilte Ireland, all tourism stakeholders including accommodation providers, carriers, restaurants and attractions are reporting positive results  from the initiative.
 
In terms of  visit numbers,  early indications are that the Gathering is having a real benefit. The most recent published figures from the Central Statistics Office  (CSO) show a 4% increase in  overseas trips to  Ireland between February and April 2013 compared to the same  period  of 2012. Furthermore, detailed CSO figures for the first quarter of 2013  are particularly   encouraging as they show a 12% increase in spending by overseas visitors in Ireland compared to the corresponding period of 2012.    
 
The overall target   for  the year of The Gathering was to increase the number of overseas visits by 325,000 and the data  suggests that we are well on target to achieve this.   For the rest  of 2013, overall sentiment for travel to Ireland is good    with  particularly encouraging signs for visit numbers from Mainland Europe and the USA, supported by  significant growth in transatlantic air access for the peak summer period.  
 
There are  no plans to extend the initiative beyond 2013,  however, I understand the tourism agencies and the Gathering team are working on how best to optimise  its legacy, drawing on our experience to date.