Tourism featured prominently in the Report of the Second Global Irish Economic Forum which was recently published. Delegates at the Forum expressed the view that Ireland should aspire to being:-
- the best small country in the world in which to do tourism;
- the best small county in the world in which to do experience culture; and
- the best small country in the world in which to produce and export food.
Since we, as a nation, have never spoken of the tourism sector's potential in such vaulted terms before, these objectives are, therefore, truly visionary. The challenge now, of course, is to convert aspirations into reality.
Meanwhile, the most significant outcome from the tourism working group, is without question, the recognition that a strategic roadmap for Irish tourism is needed. As readers of my blog know, this has always been a very strongly held view of mine. In fact, it was on the eve of the forum that I met with John Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, North America, and asked him to highlight this gap in the discussions on tourism. John obviously did an excellent job of persuading the tourism group to buy into this idea. Thanks, John.
It is anticipated that Government will now produce a 'White Paper' on the sector's future, and I look forward to reviewing it as soon as it is published.
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