CONFIDENCE IS slowly returning to the tourism sector following two years of job losses and retrenchment. But with question marks still hanging over the extent of international economic recovery, nothing is being taken for granted. Fáilte Ireland intends to concentrate much of its efforts on the promotion of domestic holidays in 2010. Such caution is understandable, especially as the home market already accounts for two-thirds of hotel sector business.
To an extent, hoteliers should be pushing an open door. Recession has brought prices down, right across the hospitality sector, and good value is widely available. The number of Irish people holidaying abroad has also fallen dramatically and an opportunity exists to capture a larger slice of the domestic market. Recognition of this is evident in a belief by two-thirds of tourism operators that business will be the same or better in 2010.
It has been a difficult time for tourism. Last year, the number of foreign visitors fell by 12 per cent and their holiday spending by 19 per cent. The outcome brought revenues back to 2004 levels at a time when, because of Government tax incentives, there was a considerable over-supply in the number of hotel rooms. Since then, some hotels have shut and others have reduced their opening times. However, the situation is stabilising and Fáilte Ireland expects a recovery to take place in the second half of this year.
It was not all doom and gloom in 2009. The Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Galway was a tremendous success. It attracted more than half-a-million visitors to the race village and it was worth an estimated €56 million to the local economy. Of course the exceptionally fine weather helped. But it shows what can be achieved with the help of a high profile event and good planning. Creative thinking was also at the heart of a budgetary proposal to provide discounted rail tickets for senior citizens coming here on holiday. Effective marketing and promotion could turn this idea into a money-spinner.
Declines in the value of sterling and the dollar caused sharp falls in tourist numbers from Britain and the US. Spending by British visitors – our largest cohort – fell by as much as one-quarter. European markets were more resilient and the number of holidaymakers coming from Italy, Spain and Portugal increased. Having endured three successive dismal summers, the law of averages should work in our favour this year and provide the kind of benign weather that Irish people recall from their childhoods. Tourists would also appreciate it.