Sir, – Further to Genevieve Carbery’s article (“Attracting missing British tourists will be 2013 focus”, News Agenda, December 29th), a major problem for British tourists is how they get to Ireland.
There are plenty of low-cost flights bringing visitors to the country; however the average family of four needs to get about easily.
If they fly, they will require a car to hire, and unfortunately a lot of car hire companies in Ireland have had a bad name for a number of years. Customers are often “forced” to buy the company’s expensive excess insurance and other unwanted “add-ons”. One company appeared to add a “crossing the M50 toll” fee automatically even if the vehicles in question never went anywhere near it.
The other way of going to Ireland from Britain is by car ferry. Car ferry costs to Ireland have increased quite dramatically over the last five years. I have just looked at prices for a family of four taking their car to Ireland on June 28th and returning on July 12th. It would cost €460. The crossing takes 3½ hours.
Comparing this with a crossing from England to France, which takes just under two hours, the cost would be €117. The additional crossing time is only 1½ hours, but the difference in the two fares is over €340, money that the tourists could be spending in Ireland. Instead they go off to France and further afield.
Unfortunately there is not too much competition on the Irish routes and ideally the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation needs to lobby the car ferry companies to reduce their fares to tourists instead of continuing to increase them.
As long as it continues to cost tourists a great deal of their holiday budget to actually get to the country, whatever the Tourism Recovery Taskforce does will regrettably not make a lot of difference. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Apart from the fact that many UK visitors to Ireland find food and drink costs higher than in Britain, the drop in UK visitors must also reflect some dreadful advertising campaigns by Irish tourism.
The ads still promote Ireland as a land of leprechauns and hospitable natives who will invite you to a wedding or a party at the drop of a bottle of whiskey. Too much blarney and not enough emphasis on value for money.
Secondly, the ads are not targeted at middle-class Britons. The people who watch Downton Abbey and visit National Trusts properties are ignored. Diarmuid Gavin should be commissioned by RTÉ to present a series on Irish gardens and historic houses. Many Britons still think that Ireland’s cultural heritage consists of thatched cottages and the Guinness brewery.
The Irish Embassy in London needs to promote The Gathering 2013. In all the years I have been resident in the UK, I have never received any communication from embassy officials about events in Ireland. The embassy needs to be more proactive in getting Irish citizens to visit Ireland in 2013.
Finally, Irish tourism will have to counter the Irish climate by offering special deals on getting to Ireland, vouchers for food discounts, etc. People with retail experience should be involved in getting promotions which appeal to the hard-pressed British person and promote trips to the Emerald Isle.– Yours, etc,