New figures from the CSO showing that visitor numbers continued to grow throughout this year of The Gathering have been welcomed by Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring TD, who said the pro-tourism measures in Budget 2014 will build on this success.
“The tide is turning for tourism with the latest overseas travel figures showing an increase of 6.4% for the first nine months of 2013 and the strongest performance for the third quarter since 2008. The Gathering has brought thousands of extra visitors to Ireland this year, taking advantage of the extra flights now available, and the better value for money now on offer. This has given the tourism industry a massive shot in the arm, and should stimulate further job creation in the sector,” Minister Ring said.
“Budget 2014 will build on this success into 2014 by retaining the tourism VAT rate at 9%, reducing the Travel Tax to €0 and allocating €8 million for the further development of the Wild Atlantic Way. This week’s announcement by Ryanair of eight new services into Shannon with 300,000 new seats per annum shows that the €0 Travel Tax rate is already bearing fruit.”
Today’s CSO figures on Overseas Travel show:
· At over 5.4 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 6.4% in the first nine months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. For the three-month period from July to September 2013, overseas trips to Ireland increased 7.8% to 2.26 million trips. This is the strongest performance in the third quarter in terms of visits since 2008;
· Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 5.1% for January to September 2013, to 1,935,400 visits and by 1.2% for the July to September period (786,200 visits);
· North America registered an increase of 14.6% for January – September 2013 (934,600 visits) and of 13.6% in the July – September 2013 period (415,000 visits);
· Visits from Great Britain were up by 3.5% for January – September 2013 (2,201,800 visits) and by 9.0% for the three months from July to September 2013 compared to the corresponding period of 2012 (904,700 visits);
· Visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) totalled 333,900 for the first nine months of 2013 (representing an increase of 13.7%) and 155,000 for the three months from July to September alone (representing an increase of 24.5%).
“But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. The Government is currently running a policy review to help us to put in place a new long-term strategy for Irish tourism. We are currently asking the industry and members of the public for their input into the questions we are considering in the policy review, so that we end up with a policy and a strategy that grows sustainably in the future,” Minister Ring added.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO for the high season months of July to September are very strong, showing growth from almost all of our markets around the world. We are seeing record growth this year from North America (+13.6% for the three-month period); and from our long-haul markets (+24.5%) – with Australia and New Zealand (+22.5%) in particular driving that growth. It is also really encouraging to see good growth in visitors from Great Britain for this period (+9%). Mainland Europe is also playing its part in growing tourism business from overseas this year, with good increases in particular from markets like Germany (+6.8%), Spain (+7.1%), the Nordic countries (12.7%) and Benelux (+11.7%). We have a really extensive programme in place between now and the end of the year, targeting late-season travellers around the world, to keep this momentum going. And the outlook for 2014 is also positive – with a major Aer Lingus expansion on transatlantic services next year, which will include new, year-round flights from San Francisco and Toronto; as well as the new Ryanair flights to Shannon from next April from France and Germany, just announced yesterday. We look forward to maximising the promotion of these new flights to continue to grow overseas tourism to Ireland.”
Meanwhile, Shaun Quinn, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland said: “Today’s figures are a further boost to an industry which has been reporting confidence levels not seen since the boom. Working closely with tourism businesses, Fáilte Ireland have been hearing of growth across all sectors – accommodation, attractions, and restaurants - as well as receiving direct feedback that overseas markets are now really delivering for tourism businesses - in particular North America. The tourism troika of The Gathering, recent Government initiatives and improving overseas markets have helped to ensure that tourism has begun to reap the benefits of increased visitors, employment and revenue.”