Tuesday, 4th April 2000

RYANAIR ROUTES TO SHANNON MAJOR STEP FOR TOURISM
Says Irish Hotels Federation

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today welcomed the announcement by Ryanair of two new low fare routes for Shannon airport, as a tremendous step to benefit Irish tourism on a national basis. Mary Fitzgerald, President, Irish Hotels Federation, said that the new routes linking Shannon to Frankfurt and London, are a significant initiative to encourage a better regional spread of tourism. In a Government submission the IHF previously outlined its support for an expansion of routes to European destinations from Shannon, with the view that a lack of competitive, efficient and easy access to all parts of Ireland was becoming a major barrier to sustaining tourism.

“In 1999 there was a worrying decrease of 4% in August alone in British traffic to Ireland and that is serious considering that it is a peak month for cross channel traffic. We believe this decline could have been averted if there were a greater choice of low cost access routes to Ireland. Access and price sensitivity are key factors for overseas tourists when selecting a destination,” said Mary Fitzgerald. “The arrival of Ryanair on the Shannon routes increases the choice of low cost carriers offering very competitive prices”.

Ms Fitzgerald stated that since Ryanair came on the scene, they have been a significant driver of the growth of Irish tourism, and this latest move has to be seen as yet another major step towards sustaining and increasing tourist numbers in the coming years.

“One of the key issues identified to relieve congestion in major urban centres during peak season is the need to develop direct routes to regional airports from European destinations. The opening of these two new routes to Shannon must be recognised as a major development for Irish tourism, delivering an estimated 250,000 additional passengers per annum. However, we would hope that this is only the first such development and we would encourage Ryanair and indeed other airlines to look closely at the possibility of opening more new routes, not only to Shannon but to other under-utilised regional airports in Ireland”, concluded Mary Fitzgerald.