Contd. from page 8

“There is a very viable heritage and genealogical package that we could market and do very well with,” he says. North Americans are less keen on long-haul international travel these days anyway and he is also cautious about the cost of oil – one of the real uncertainties going forward.

McWilliams expects that Irish people will want to travel abroad more and more but cautions that oil remains a major imponderable with production set to peak in about five years time. This is a problem for all industries and not just for tourism he suggests. He does, however, take solace from the 1970’s oil crisis when the car industry looked doomed but reacted by replacing the gas guzzlers with smaller vehicles and more efficient engines.

What happens to oil is naturally important to the local economy and its cost base given that Ireland is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. McWilliams thinks Ireland is already an expensive country in which to live, holiday or do business. “We are a high inflation country, and you just can’t get away from it,” he says. Even so, he is not convinced we’re getting value for money from the people who run the hospitality industry.

“There’s a deluge of cheap credit pushing up the cost of everything,” he claims. “Go to Spain and see how much further your money will take you,” he says. “Workers there may be less well paid than ours; but then the Spanish don’t have our property boom, and that’s an important element of prices.”

As one of the people who foretold the Irish economic miracle back in the mid 1990’s, David McWilliams says he is now reasonably confident about the outlook, but this comes with a health warning. “I think things will remain fine as long as property values hold up,” he cautions, “It’s like a pyramid scheme – those buying in at the end will get burned.”

He says boom-to-bust cycles tend to happen suddenly. “It’s not something that you are usually able to manage.” He offers Japan as the best example of how things can go wrong. “This was the country that was going to take over the world and it ended up bankrupt.” A salutary warning perhaps.

McWilliams is the author of $aints and $inners and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at the University of Europe Bruges, Belgium. He started his career as an economist at the Central Bank in 1990. From there he joined UBS, Europe’s largest bank, where he was made director at the age of 27.

McWilliams was the first economist to predict the 1990’s boom in Ireland and has held senior positions with Banque Nationale de Paris, and the New York base Rockwest Capital. He currently hosts the Big Bite weekday programme on RTE 1 and has worked in broadcasting since 2002. He also contributes a weekly column to the Irish Independent.

David will be one of the keynote speakers at the IHF Annual Conference on Tuesday 7th March.

Michael Rosney, Killeen House Hotel, Conor O'Connell, Gleann Fia Country House; Victor Garland, Commercial Director, In1 Solutions and Pat Ratcliffe, CEO, In1 Solutions at the Kerry workshop.

Nine very successful Irelandhotels.com workshops were held throughout the country in January. The focus of these workshops was to show members how to best manage the system and achieve more bookings in 2006. The locations for these workshops were: Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Dublin, Westport, Donegal, Limerick, Galway and Tullamore. January Workshops

Tina Darrer, Dooley's Hotel; Victor Garland, Commercial Director In1 Solutions and Lisa Kearney, IHF at the Waterford workshop.

It is hoped that these workshops will help to further grow the increases in booking, revenue and visitor figures for Irelandhotels.com. During 2005 there were almost 14,000 bookings through the site which represents a 95% increase on 2004. In relation to the corresponding revenue figures, Irelandhotels.com achieved an increase of 94% over the previous 12 months with the total value of bookings at over €3.1 million.

North West Tourism has launched a new Self Catering Guide at its annual regional road show in the Mill Park Hotel, Donegal, where plans by Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland on developing tourism business to the North West during 2006 were unveiled to representatives from the tourism trade in Cavan and Monaghan.

Mr Paul McLoone, CEO, North West Tourism, informed the audience that the Minister for Tourism’s plans to decentralise tourism functions to the regions was progressing well and that sub-committee of the Board of North West Tourism had met the implementation group set up by the minister.

Marine Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher said the North West had experienced great difficulties because of their proximity to Northern Ireland and the perception that the troubles were having a direct impact on this region. It was for that reason that tourism here faced even bigger challenges than other parts of the country, he added.

According to research by Tourism Ireland, the country’s reputation for friendly people and breathtaking scenery amid vibrant culture and heritage continues to be the main lure for holidaymakers. The research shows the unique appeal may be weakening as more and more tourists believe Ireland is becoming increasingly homogenous with the rest of Europe, particularly its urban areas.

According to Mark Henry, Director of Central Marketing, Tourism Ireland, “There have been suggestions that we should dispense with the Emerald Isle imagery, but we make absolutely no apology for reflecting what consumers tell us are the most appealing aspects of the island in our overseas marketing campaigns. Our research shows that our strongest competitive advantage, or what makes us stand out as a destination, lies in our image of a beautiful green land populated by friendly welcoming people.“

Pictured at the findings of the Tourism Ireland research ‘Image of the Island of Ireland’ which were presented at a workshop for tourism and marketing professionals at the Guinness Storehouse are from (l-r), Paul O' Toole, CEO, Tourism Ireland, John Power, CEO, IHF, Michael Dargan, Guinness, Tom Haughey, Dublin Airport Authority and Pamala Wilson, NITB.

Mr Henry stated that some potential holidaymakers believe that, while Ireland is becoming more cosmopolitan and appealing as an urban short break destination, its cities are becoming more and more like any other in Europe. “Holidaymakers from Great Britain, in particular, expressed the view that we were not different or exotic enough in comparison to new destinations in eastern Europe,“ he added.

He stated that while Ireland’s images can be associated with a sense of timelessness and romanticism, these positive associations betray an underlying problem: overseas visitors are not clear about specifically what there is to do, see and experience whilst on holiday in Ireland.

“Our new global advertising campaign, which was launched internationally in January, tackles this with specific appealing images which will motivate holidaymakers to either visit or revisit the island. The ‘Discover Your Very Own Ireland’ campaign brings to life the wide range of holiday choices and activities available both in rural and in urban Ireland. The key message underpinning the campaign is that the island of Ireland offers you great places and activities brought to life by great people,” said Mr Henry.

IRISH ATTITUDES
TO FOOD SAFETY

Results of a survey on attitudes to food safety risks within the EU have been announced by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs in the European Commission.

Figures reveal that food is ranked 4th behind environmental pollution, car accidents and serious illness amongst consumers across the EU as a factor that would most likely affect health. However, 67% of Irish people believe food safety has improved in the past 10 years while six in ten Irish people believe that public authorities in Europe take health seriously, with 54% saying the authorities are quick to act if health dangers are identified.

Attitudes to food safety in Ireland are generally more positive than the European average, according to the survey. Interestingly, 65% of Irish people think that European food is safer than imported food while 74% of Irish people think that food safety laws are strict and 31% think that there are too many food safety rules, the 3rd lowest figure in the 25 Member States.

The top three risks concerning food that spontaneously came to the minds of Europeans were food poisoning (16%), chemicals/pesticides/toxic substances (14%) and obesity (13%). Only 8% of those interviewed mentioned genetically modified organisms as a concern to health, with only 7% mentioning additives in the same context and 7% expressing the view that food presented no risks at all.

The survey reveals that Irish people are one of the least likely in Europe to worry about food allergies (28%) compared to the European average (41%). While 65% of Irish people are concerned about pesticides, the figure is slightly less than the European average of 71%. Only 38% of Irish people are concerned about BSE compared to around 70% in Italy and Poland.

As I pen my last message for Innsight as your President and look back over the two years, I am struck by how amazingly quickly the two years have flown and how extremely fortunate I have been to represent such a vibrant, caring and generous industry.

I have always been conscious of how regionally spread our industry is: we are in every corner of this country, providing employment and in many cases acting as the social centre of our communities, often doing this in a most openhanded and generous way that we individually do not seek credit for, but for which as an industry we deserve consideration and gratitude. I say 'thank you' to all of you for the support that you give in your own areas by making facilities and services available to assist your communities and the voluntary organisations.

I spoke in my first President's message about how competitive we are as a sector, and I am delighted to see that the media fiction about the accommodation in hotels and guesthouses being uncompetitive has been given the lie. As I said in that first message, we do not need to be told to be competitive - we do so to survive in business. Would that some of the inputs that cause the rise in the cost of our doing business suffered from those same constraints, particularly in the area of services, taxes and utilities.

During my visits to the Branches for meetings, I became very conscious of the concerns and worries being expressed by you, the members, about cost and competitiveness issues, about the effect of the huge growth in accommodation stock, driven to a large extent by the generous capital allowances. These capital allowances are now being phased out in what I think is an orderly and fair way that, to a large extent, meets the wishes of you, the members of the Federation.

Achievments by our sector in the last two years include;

• The improvement in infrastructure is now becoming more apparent. We think the vision in Transport 21 is to be applauded, provided it is delivered on budget and on time.
• The Conference Centre announcement is welcome and it looks like we will have a conference centre by 2009. We should be able to start the marketing effort by late this year.
• Our airport infrastructure is due to improve with the development of Pier D and the second terminal.
• Liberalisation of air routes is almost complete.
• The PIAB linked to the work of the Oireachtas Committee on small business has driven down insurance costs.
• We achieved a small movement in the liquor licensing legislation.
• We had some success in dealing with the issues surrounding copyright, but there is more to be done.
• Our VAT rates are still uncompetitive, but I am hopeful of some movement on the VAT on business tourism issue.
• We have played our part in implementing the recommendations in New Horizons for Irish Tourism.
• We have almost completed the review of the classification system and continue to work closely with Failte Ireland on this matter, which could be concluded by early summer.

I asked you all to play a full role in your Federation two years ago, and while I feel there has been much progress, I ask you again to give your Federation, the incoming President, Council and Executive, your support. Active members mean a strong and resolute Federation.

My thanks to my Vice Presidents, my Council and my Management Committee for the assistance provided. To John Power and the Federation Executive, I offer gratitude on all your behalves. One only understands the dedication and huge endeavour of the Executive of the Federation when you get to work closely with them.

Finally, as I remember with fondness the members and indeed friends who have passed from us during my term as your President, I am very thankful to you the members for all the kindness that has been shown to Theresa and me over the two years. It was indeed a singular honour to have had this opportunity to serve as your President in the autumn of my career. I am left with memories which I will cherish all of my days. I wish you all every success, good health and happiness in the future. I am in your debt - many, many thanks.

Richard Bourke

President

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