The absence of an integrated tourism policy has been a feature of national and county development plans for many years. It not helped by the fact that we have far too many state agencies.... five in aviation and eight in public transport alone!
So I was encouraged last week when the government launched the first integrated strategy to promote overseas trade, tourism and investment. The acknowledgement that these are no longer discrete policy areas is significant and the intention that 'joined-up thinking will lead to joined-up action' is to be welcomed. For example, we know that tourists from countries in new and developing markets such as China and India are discouraged from visiting here because of our complex visa regime, so I'm glad that a consultative group will be established to look at this issue.
However, the most disappointing aspect of this plan is the lack of ambition in the targets set for tourism by 2015 as follows:
- Increase overseas visitor numbers to 8 million
- Increase the number of jobs by 15,000
As far back as 2002, almost 6 million overseas visitors came here (5.919 million to be exact) and we reached the 8 million figure in 2007! So our target for 2015 is to be where we were in 2007!
In 2003, the tourism policy review group report New Horizons for Irish Tourism set a target of 10 million visitors by 2012. I know that economic circumstances have changed but why not push the 10 million figure to 2015 instead and get everyone working towards that?
The job creation potential of the sector is also significantly underestimated. As I stood and watched the majestic waves in Strandhill recently, I was struck by how much employment in the village was attributable to tourist related activities - surf schools, the golf club, the airport, cafes, restaurants and pubs. I am convinced that a lot more jobs could be created had we more ambition and a better vision.
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