Discount rail travel for visitors praised

TOURISM:THE ANNOUNCEMENT that people from overseas aged 66 and older will get access to heavily discounted fares on Iarnród Éireann in an effort to boost tourism has been welcomed.

The discount voucher rail travel scheme, coupled with an increased level of funding for tourism marketing and the reduction in excise duty on alcohol, will boost the tourism sector, the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) has said.

The president of the IHF, Matthew Ryan, described the voucher plan as “creative”, and said it was “a great step in the right direction”. It would provide “a major boost to Ireland’s appeal to this lucrative market abroad – some 80 million senior citizens in the EU alone”.

The IHF also welcomed the decision to reduce excise duty on alcohol, describing it as a “much-needed measure to assist competitiveness and address the imbalance that now exists between Ireland and the UK”.

The tourism services budget is to increase by 2 per cent to €155 million, while €44.25 million is to be earmarked to promote Ireland as a destination both internationally and domestically.

The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) expressed its relief that marketing investment has been kept at 2009 levels.

“Early signs of economic recovery exist in our principal source markets – the United States, Britain, France and Germany,” ITIC chairman Tom Haughey said.

“It is critical that Irish tourism exploits the opportunity which this presents.”

The group said it was delighted there had been “a significant restoration of the tourism capital grant of €22 million, which will leverage substantial investment in job creation and product enhancement”.

The retention of the airport departure tax was condemned by the Opposition, with Fine Gael’s tourism spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell saying it showed the Government was “determined to drive the tourism industry into the ground”.