Employing one in 10, tourism is a business that needs to be taken seriously

IT is a little acknowledged fact that the country’s largest indigenous industry is the tourism and hospitality sector. It employs a remarkable 230,000 people throughout the country in everything from hotels and restaurants to attractions and aviation — that’s one in every 10 jobs and it’s the only industry that can develop long-term sustainable jobs in both urban and rural Ireland. It’s a much bigger employer than agriculture or construction and, crucially, is a thriving export sector with earnings from overseas visitors last year topping €4.9bn, as 8.9 million tourists came to our shores.

The most relevant point of all is that Ireland’s tourism sector has much more potential to offer in terms of export earnings, employment and exchequer returns given the right policies and appropriate investment strategies.

It is in that context that the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (Itic), the umbrella group for tourism business interests, recently produced a strategy and roadmap for the sector to 2025, arguing that the export value of tourism can grow by as much as 65pc.

In a comprehensive blueprint for the sector, with over 40 policy recommendations, borne of 10 months of industry-wide consultation, Itic make the case that tourism’s sustainable growth as an export sector would mean a further 80,000 jobs nationwide and nearly €2bn to the exchequer in direct tourism-related taxes annually.

It is now time for the Government to match the tourism industry’s ambitions.

Such has been tourism’s development in recent times — an increase in international visitor numbers to Ireland of circa 40pc over the last five years — that it is easy to assume that this upward trajectory will continue unchecked into the future. Such an assumption would be foolhardy.

Anyone who has worked in the industry can quickly point to an event — well outside tourism’s control or sphere of influence — that has knocked the sector back: think 9/11, the Icelandic ash cloud, “foot and mouth” or SARS as clear examples of where growth momentum came to a shuddering halt, not to mention the global economic recession which most impacted on tourism. The current great challenge of course is that of Brexit and already the British market is in retreat despite other markets powering ahead.

In a Brexit context, the Common Travel Area and a soft border must be secured; anything that impedes the free movement of people within the island of Ireland or between Britain and Ireland would be seriously damaging to Irish tourism.

Likewise a liberalised aviation market and a harmonisation of regulatory standards between post-Brexit UK and Ireland are critical.

Irish tourism’s development has been led by the private sector, and in the next three years alone tourism businesses will spend at least €2.5bn on new hotels, aircraft, ferries and visitor attractions.

The new Center Parcs attraction in Longford, due to open next year, is a prime example; a €233m investment that will provide 1,000 permanent jobs. No other industry is likely to provide such an economic boost to Ireland’s Midlands.

The State though must play its role — the Government has got much right on tourism taxes with the Vat rate aligned with the European average, but it has been found seriously wanting in terms of investment in tourism.

State funding for tourism is actually down 25pc, or €40m, since 2008 and Government support for tourism is a vital enabling factor if the tourism sector is to continue prospering. Itic’s tourism strategy makes the case that there is a 34-to-one return for the State on investment in tourism, so it is an economic no-brainer for the Government to commit to overseas marketing of Ireland and, like the shining example of the Wild Atlantic Way, invest in experience development to create new attractors of scale and international appeal.

There can be a very positive future for Irish tourism, assuming the sector remains competitive and the Government matches the industry’s ambitions.

And why bother? Is travel and tourism not expected to grow globally and therefore will Ireland not gain its natural share anyway? Well possibly, but far more likely is that without an ambitious and well-developed strategy, Irish tourism will lose market share and fail to achieve its potential.

If that happens then jobs aren’t realised, regional economies aren’t regenerated, tax revenues aren’t secured. A sector’s future is too important to leave to chance.

And to depend on a Government to set ambitions for a sector isn’t wise — after all, the targets within Ireland’s current national policy for tourism to 2025 have all but been met already, a full seven years early!

Time for the Irish tourism industry to boldly and confidently state its case.

The full Itic strategy — Tourism: An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025 — can be seen at www.itic.ie

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh is CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation