Monday, 2nd March 2009

HOTELIERS PROPOSE FREE TRAVEL IN IRELAND FOR ALL EU SENIOR CITIZENS
LARGELY UNTAPPED MARKET OF ALMOST 80 MILLION PEOPLE

The IHF today called for three specific measures to make Ireland a more attractive and accessible destination. Namely - free travel in Ireland for over 66s to be offered to European citizens; Ireland and Britain to have a common visa area and passport controls to be removed at ports of entry for all travel from UK. 

The IHF believes that we are uniquely positioned to attract an increasing number of European citizens over 66 years of age which is a largely untapped market of 80 million people for Irish tourism. The IHF is calling on the Government to extend the current free travel scheme for Irish citizens aged 66 to all EU citizens in the same age category. Matthew Ryan, President, Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) told its Annual Conference in Killarney today this would convey an enormous welcome to this substantial tourism market segment. The cost of such a scheme would be minimal as the state already subsidies CIE by over €320 million a year and it appears there is substantial excess capacity on rail and bus services particularly at off peak times.

“There are almost 80 million people over the age of 66 in the EU. People in this age demographic are increasingly mobile and seeking new destinations of interest to visit.  By providing free internal travel within Ireland, it would give us an added attraction and advantage in this segment of the tourism market,” says Mr Ryan. “Older people have the time, discretionary income and inclination to travel and we should position ourselves to benefit from this growing market.”

The IHF states that our nearest neighbouring country Britain has 9.5 million people over 66 years of age, a free travel scheme open to this sector would give Ireland a competitive advantage over all other European countries. This valuable extra offering combined with the exceptional good value being offered by Irish hotels and guesthouse nationwide could make Ireland a compelling place to visit this year. 

            “The Government provides over €320million annually to CIE and it is a significant a part of the tourism infrastructure. This should be considered as substantial opportunity to increase our tourism revenue together. There is capacity on off peak periods in the system that could cater for the additional passengers.  It is an intelligent use of our unused resources, it would impose no substantial additional costs to Irish rail and could be a major catalyst to increasing our attractiveness in this lucrative market,” says Mr Ryan.

The IHF also suggests the UK and Ireland should a common visa area. In effect, once you have a visa to enter Britain or Ireland, then you should be entitled to free movement in either jurisdiction.

“India and China are the two fastest growing source markets of international tourists and offer substantial potential from which Ireland could benefit.  It is a major disincentive that citizens of these countries visiting Britain and Ireland currently need both a UK and an Irish visa this adds both bureaucratic inconvenience and substantial cost to the tourist which is a disincentive to visit Ireland,” says Mr Ryan.

The IHF sees no sense whatsoever in having passport control at points of entry to the Republic of Ireland from the UK. Immediate steps should be taken to allow passengers from UK flights to Irish airports to bypass passport control and treat the visitors from Britain in the same way as Irish visitors to the UK are treated. 

“ We are a time when we need to remove all unnecessary barriers to travellers and the immediate removal of this control system would be a good start,” Mr Ryan.

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