All-Ireland tourism initiative announced

A challenging target of increasing tourism to Northern Ireland by eight per cent in each of the next three years has been set…

A challenging target of increasing tourism to Northern Ireland by eight per cent in each of the next three years has been set by the new cross-border Irish tourism body.

The target was contained in the corporate plan of Tourism Ireland, presented to a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council held in Co Fermanagh today.

Mr Paul O'Toole, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, which was set up last November, said they had twin tasks: reaching out to consumers in the international marketplace and encouraging business links between the tourist industry and travel trade in targeting markets.

The main objective of the plan was increasing visitor numbers and revenue to the whole of Ireland.

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However the chairman of Tourism Ireland, Mr Andrew Coppel, told the ministerial meeting that in the aftermath of September 11th, and the difficult economies in western Europe, particularly Germany, any forecasts should be treated with caution until there was real evidence of a material recovery in international travel.

The meeting outside Enniskillen, was chaired by Stormont Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Sir Reg Empey.

He was accompanied by the North’s Minister for Health Ms Bairbre de Brún and the Republic’s Minister for Sports and Tourism, Dr Jim McDaid.