The first all-Ireland tourism marketing programme was launched in Dublin earlier this week by ministers Dr James McDaid and Sir Reg Empey. Tourism Ireland, the new cross-border body, will spend £60 million in promoting the country as a safe and welcoming destination. Such North/South co-operation under the terms of the Belfast Agreement is to be welcomed at a time when the industry is facing severe difficulties. Only through careful management and innovative marketing will the current downturn in tourist numbers be addressed.
News from the tourist sector is bleak. Preliminary figures from Bord Fβilte are depressing. Having suffered significant losses as a result of the foot and mouth outbreak at the beginning of the year, a projected recovery was slowed by the global economic downturn and then reversed by the terrible events of September 11th.
The number of tourists visiting this State is now expected to drop by at least half a million from the record figure of 6.3 million in 2000. Such a contraction means that tourism revenues will be cut by between £170 million and £230 million. The precipitous nature of the fall can be gauged from the fact that while a growth rate of 5 per cent had been anticipated, the outcome may be a reduction of 10 per cent.
The fall-off in the number of visitors has been uneven. Foot and mouth disease in Britain led to a drop of 7 per cent in visitors from our major market. North America was most disappointing, with a reduction of nearly one-quarter in the number of tourists. That slowing trend was greatly exaggerated by the events of September. The only growth area was Europe and tourist numbers from there have slowed in recent months.
In the circumstances, the timing of the all-Ireland initiative could not be better. Bord Fβilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will continue to deal with home marketing within their respective jurisdictions. The new, foreign marketing strategy was described as "a giant step" for the tourism industry by Dr McDaid. With the Irish Hotels Federation predicting up to 14,000 job losses because of the downturn, there is a pressing need to deliver growth.