2009 will be 'difficult' for tourism, oireachtas hearing told

The Oireachtas Committee on Tourism has heard that 2008 and 2009 are expected to be “difficult” for the Irish tourist industry, due to in part to the economic climate and Aer Lingus’s removal of the Heathrow route at Shannon Airport, which may cost the region up to 40,000 this year.

Both Shannon Development and Dublin Tourism told the committee today that this year was "challenging" for the tourism industry, with Shannon Development estimating a fall off in tourist numbers as high as 10 per cent on the west coast of the country

John King, tourism director with Shannon Development said that while visitor volume has remained steady for the region, length of stay has "dropped off" particularly with visitors from the US, UK and European markets, and has been hit by the decision of Aer Lingus to stop its Shannon to Heathrow route and move the slot to Belfast instead.

"It was a very important link," explained Mr King. "It serves business, tourism, leisure. On the leisure side, we would estimate that anything up to 40,000 tourists are lost with that link."

Dublin Tourism boss Frank Magee said the increase in hotel capacity in the Dublin region would contribute to falling revenues for the sector, but said claims that Dublin was not competitive could be disputed when compared with prices in other European capital cities such as Paris.

There was some good news, with Dublin outperforming the European average for average stays, with 4.5 nights spent in Dublin, compared to the European average of two.

Both bodies were asked to account for expenses too, with the committee highlighting consultancy fees at Shannon Development. However, both tourism groups told the committee that travel expenses were monitored carefully.

Broadband connectivity in the Shannon region and the status of the Mid-Shannon Corridor Tourism Infrastructure Investment scheme was also raised by the committee.