Hoteliers Call for Emergency Action to Salvage British Tourism Market

Irish Government Can No Longer Stand Idly by as UK Market Freefalls

15 October 2009

“The bottom has fallen out of the British tourist market, and not a single meaningful action of substance has been taken by the Government to recover the situation. With visitors from Britain in August down 24% compared with last year, the Government can no longer stand idly by and do nothing. We need imaginative solutions from our leaders, and, in replying to a recent parliamentary question, Minister Hanafin’s rejection out of hand of an IHF proposal to give free travel to old age pensioners from the EU shows a reluctance to grasp the issue and adapt to new ways of thinking,” states Matthew Ryan, President, Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).

Mr Ryan states, “It is no longer acceptable for the Government to dismiss suggestions that could actually give Ireland a competitive advantage in attracting visitors from our main markets. We are calling on the Government to examine, in a ‘can do’ mind-frame, the introduction of such a scheme. A decisive government should insist that such a scheme be part of the condition under which it continues to provide the substantial €350 million in subsidies to CIE each year while trains and buses across the country are half empty during off-peak times.”

            “Irish tourism is in crisis and in urgent need of leadership from Government. What is the use in holding Diaspora think-tanks in Farmleigh and inviting the best minds in Ireland to come up solutions if we are unwilling to respond creatively and with a sense of urgency to positive suggestions to deal with crises situations, particularly when they involve no additional cost to the exchequer.”

The IHF believes that Ireland is uniquely positioned to attract an increasing number of European citizens over 66 years of age – a largely untapped market of 80 million people across the EU. The IHF is calling on the Government to extend, as a matter of urgency, the current free travel scheme for Irish citizens aged 66 to all EU citizens in this age group. Such a decisive action would provide a major boost to attempts to halt the collapse of the British tourist market for Ireland and would we believe encourage many within this sector of nine million people to avail of the low cost access fares to Ireland and the fantastic value packages available in Irish hotels and guesthouses.

“Retired people have the time, discretionary income and inclination to travel and we should position ourselves to benefit from this growing market. 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.

ENDS

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