Tourism To Benefit from U.S. Pre-Clearance Facility at Shannon
Irish Hoteliers welcome US–Shannon Bilateral Agreement

14 November 2008

Today’s announcement that a cross border pre-clearance facility is to be established at Shannon Airport will have a significant positive effect on the viability of tourism in the Shannon region and throughout the West of Ireland, according to the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF). The facility offers immense potential to re-energise the airport and provide Shannon with a substantial number of new traffic streams by allowing passengers to complete all necessary inspections before departing for the US.

Michael Vaughan, Chairman, IHF Shannon Branch, states “Today’s announcement will transform Shannon Airport into a strategically important transatlantic gateway between the US and Europe by fast tracking access for passengers. The US market is of vital importance to Ireland’s tourism industry, so any initiative that makes it easier for American visitors to get here and back will help sustain and grow this market.”

“We welcome the tremendous efforts of the Irish Government to secure this bilateral agreement between the US and Ireland. This will be the first facility of its kind in Europe and offers Shannon substantial competitive advantage with significant benefits for the airport’s viability with positive knock-on effects for tourism in the West of Ireland.”

The agreement is hugely positive for the region and increases Shannon’s appeal by providing passengers with full clearance facilities through the addition of customs and border control elements. It opens up the vista of having low cost charter flights coming from domestic airports in the US to Shannon and returning without being required to go through an international airport in the US. Hoteliers in the west see significant potential to increase low-cost charter-based business going forward.

“Ease of access to Ireland is a major issue for US visitors. In the current economic climate and with international tourism markets becoming extremely competitive, Ireland cannot afford to become complacent. We must now capitalise on today’s announcement and work to maintain current visitor numbers from the US by investing additional funds in innovative marketing strategies,” states Mr Vaughan.

The agreement also opens Shannon Airport as a pre-clearance point for private jets seeking to fly to domestic airports in the US from all over Europe, thereby bypassing the need to land at international airports stateside. It will allow Shannon to attract a significant number of technical stops, and this will have a positive effect on Shannon’s Airport bottom line and future viability.

The IHF acknowledges the important role played by the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and his officials in securing this agreement. It notes that there is substantial opportunity to revitalise visitor numbers from the US through incentives that provide for increased air routes while ensuring funding is in place to provide targeted marketing campaigns aimed at attracting transatlantic business.

ENDS

FOR INFORMATION:

Siobhan Molloy / Eoin Quinn Tel: 01 6760168
Weber Shandwick Mobile: 086 8175066 / 087 2332191