Pubs are essential for tourism – and Wexford needs more of them!
PUBS ARE great for bringing foreign cash into Ireland and Wexford doesn’t have enough of them.
This was the general thrust of a report entitled ‘ The Contribution of the Drinks Industry to Tourism’, which was released by a DCU Business School professor this week.
The report pinpoints the Irish pub experience as the country’s number one attraction for tourists, not surprising considering the cartoonish stereotype of us abroad, bearing dimpled beer glasses with fists flailing – the fighting, drunken Irish.
Behind the crass image, however, everyone, everywhere knows we’re a fun-loving, music-loving people who are never far away from a tin whistle, guitar or a drum.
Considering the fact that the country’s top tourism destinations all have more pubs than Wexford, (which is one of the most populous counties), it can be safely construed that going by the ‘more pubs = more for tourists to do’ logic, we need more pubs.
Cork has 980 pubs, followed by Dublin (750), Galway (489), Kerry (449) and Mayo (376), while Wexford has only 263.
What is unique to Ireland is the craic to be found in our pubs. Be it a night of traditional music in Sinnott’s pub in Duncormick, a pint of the black stuff in French’s of Gorey, a cocktail at the D Bar in Enniscorthy or a craft beer in The Sky & The Ground, there are few better experiences than visiting a Wexford pub.
The report was launched at a debate facilitated by Prof Kevin Rafter between leading tourism
■ stakeholders on the relationship between the hospitality and drinks industry in Ireland and the country’s tourist offering. The event, entitled ‘Ireland’s tourism offer – are our hospitality and drinks industries unique resources or do they play into an embarrassing national stereotype?’, was hosted by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) as part of its ‘Support Your Local’ campaign.
As someone who supports his local as often as he can (which roughly equates to once a month these days, what with a teething baby boy and a hectic bedtime story regimen to uphold), it is a campaign I’m more than happy to support here.
The data shows that there is a substantial number of public houses and other bars in Wexford including 263 pubs, 27 hotel bars on licences, nine fully licensed restaurants and 48 wine-only licensed restaurants.
According to the report, 80 per cent of visitors rank a visit to an Irish pub as a must, while listening to Irish music in a pub was a top attraction for 83 per cent of those surveyed.
Considering the number of overseas tourists visiting the South-east in 2013 was 798,000 and overseas tourism expenditure in the region was €207 million, excluding carrier receipts, it seems the Wexford barman and barwoman is up there with Richard Bruton and Michael Noonan at bringing jobs and cash into the county.
Long the cornerstone of the local village and the heartbeat of the town, the local pub has come under sustained attack over the past decade with the introduction of discount beer deals and multi-buy wine offers in supermarkets, taking the casual drinker out of the pub, ensconcing him on the couch instead.
With supermarket beer available at prices cheaper than what you’d pay for a bottle of water and a discounted bottle of wine often cheaper than a glass of vino at a restaurant, the drinks industry was having the legs cut from underneath it.
Then the government started raising the price of drink through excise increases.
Publicans across the county have fought back. They have diversified with most surviving the post- Celtic Tiger era, coming out of it with tall sandwich boards, special offers and more entertainment offerings.
The latest report once again points to the vital role they play in the local and national economy.
Bart Storan, campaign manager for ‘Support Your Local’, summed it up well in the report.
‘ Tourism is expected to play a major role in the recovery of employment and economic activity over the next few years. The drinks industry can contribute to the realisation of these ambitious growth targets if it’s supported appropriately. Punitive excise increases in the last two budgets have created an unsustainable position for the industry – pubs are closing and the small businesses that make up the industry are struggling to stay afloat.’
Arguing that excise is a tax on tourism, he said increasing taxes on alcohol, including excise duty, does not address misuse of the product.
‘It simply harms our tourism offering. Fáilte Ireland research cites that the price of alcohol, which is the highest in Europe, is one of the main contributors as to why tourists would not visit Ireland again – second only to the weather. Do we really want to give tourists another reason not to visit again?’
The drink debate in Ireland will continue. Visit Wexford A&E any weekend night and the evidence of our culture’s drink problem is evident for all to see and it ain’t a pretty picture.
But the trend of self-appointed barmen in ‘ house bars’ means there is no regulation, while accurate (and safe) measures go out the window.
The sanctuary of the pub is something unique that needs to be protected. Travel to New Ross and you’ll find at least a dozen characterful pubs with everything a tourist (or a local for that matter) could wish for. The same can be said of Wexford, Gorey, New Ross, Bunclody and everywhere in between.
Bloggers have been raving about toasted sandwiches at Roche’s bar, Duncannon, tweeters have been packing their praise for our bars into 140 crammed characters; the language of Facebook on weekends speaks of our pubs and nightclubs. They are still relevant. Let’s raise a glass of beer, sparkling water, whatever you’re having yourself, that this remains the same for the sake of all of us!