TOURISM - A KEY POLICY FOCUS FOR BRITISH IRISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Recently, I was honoured to be invited by the British Irish Chamber to
participate in a discussion on the priorities for culture and tourism at its Annual Conference at the Titanic Belfast. While the Chamber is only three years old, it deserves credit for recognizing and focusing on policy areas that I believe are fundamental to the future socio-economic development of both countries. These include;

• Culture, Arts, Sport and Tourism
• Energy
• Food and Agribusiness
• Industry and Regulation
• International and
• SME

As the key issue facing governments today is stimulating growth and increasing employment, I highlighted the potential of tourism to lead economic recovery. Indeed just last year, at the Global Travel and Tourism Summit in Abu Dhabi, former US President Bill Clinton, urged tourism leaders to seize the mantle of economic responsibility with tourism as the game changer.
The facts speak for themselves. In recent times, tourism has generated jobs faster that any other sector of the economy. For example -

• in the UK, 28% of all new jobs created were in hospitality (between 2010 and 2012)
• in Ireland, the annual increase in employment (to June 2013) in the accommodation and food sector was 8%, compared with an overall increase in employment of just 1.8% 

I also pointed out that increased tourism produces -

• increased youth employment
• increased regional employment and 
• increased social inclusion 

Thus, the key challenge remains to convince policymakers to give tourism the same priority as other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, pharma, ICT and construction. By co-incidence, the day before the conference, the first ever debate on the high levels of VAT on UK tourism was held  in Westminster Hall. It's further proof, if any were needed,that the sector has a challenging job on its hands.

As the focal point for business between Ireland and UK, I believe it is highly significant that the British Irish Chamber has taken an initiative on tourism. There is lots to build on, particularly following the PA consulting report on the value of the economic relationship between the two countries in 2013.

I wish the Chamber every success in its future activities.