Tourism is worth more than €6 billion to the Irish economy, making it one of the State’s great resources.
It is also a huge employer and, unlike the tech or pharmaceutical sectors, its roots run deep throughout every county.
Plans to see the revenue tourism brings in jump by 50 per cent to €9 billion over the next five years are ambitious, with “an appropriate mix of higher spending tourists, increasing the average spend per overseas visitor and growing visitor numbers from markets with greater connectivity to Ireland” needed.
The idea is to see a total increase of 15 per cent in overseas visitor numbers between next year and 2031, but can it be done, and if so, how?
RM Block
More tourists in the lean months will boost revenue from overseas visitors without putting undue strain on our natural resources and a hospitality and accommodation sector under considerable pressure at high season.
1. Ireland as a winter destination
But saying there should be more tourists in winter is one thing, convincing them to come is quite another. We may not be overly enamoured of our summers but visitors from sweltering parts of Europe and the US seem to love soft Irish rain and temperatures that struggle to get into the 20s even in June, July and August.
Convincing them to love the darker, colder and wetter days outside of the four peak months will be challenging, but we have a roadmap. The St Patrick’s Day Festival has been a standout success over the last 20 years, while in recent years the Puca festival centred on Athboy and Trim has allowed Ireland to cement its claim as the home of Halloween and draw people in to celebrate it.
There’s more to be done to develop more big moments and memorable experiences in the run-up to Christmas and at the dawn of spring to bring people in. If done well, it will serve us all well.
2. Make Ireland more attractive to Irish people
Again, easier said than done. It might be worth looking back – in this instance only – to Covid times when the shutdown of virtually all international travel forced everyone to holiday at home.
Most people who did found that they liked the experience but – and this is a big but – too many were subsequently put off by feelings they were being gouged. Overseas tourists rarely talk about bad weather or bad value for money, but we rarely talk about anything else. If more Irish people are to holiday at home, it has to be made worth their while. That will require a huge amount of effort from everyone with an interest in bolstering revenue.
3. Focus on less mature tourism destinations
The plan, A New Era for Irish Tourism, makes it clear that the benefits of tourism “should be felt in all areas of the country” and that is sensible as the Cliffs of Moher and the Guinness Storehouse can only fit so many people in any given year.
One miracle of modern Ireland has to be the Wild Atlantic Way and there really should be a statue of the person who came up with the notion every 50km along the entire 2600km stretch from Cork to Donegal. Its success must be replicated and the plan, if implemented correctly, will mean an “enhanced focus on less mature tourism destinations, including Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Ireland’s Ancient East” with the offering to tourists made more attractive.
This should easily deliver the envisaged bounce of 7 per cent bounce in tourism numbers to these areas. But marketing only goes so far, and the proposed regional enterprise plans aimed at supporting the local businesses to make these places worth visiting need the full backing of the State.
4. A ‘foodie’ attraction
The world raves about the cuisine of France, Italy and Spain but few people come to Ireland to eat. The reasons we’re not steeped in the same peasant traditions that elevated our Mediterranean cousins’ food to such stellar highs are legion and while we’re not there yet, we’re getting there and certainly a whole lot better than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.
We have the best of seafood and meat and amazing artisan cheese and seasonal produce and an army of people who know how to cook, present and serve it. As the plan notes, food is rarely the primary reason for travel to Ireland, but 81 per cent of visitors rate the quality of Irish food as “very good”. That under-promise and overdeliver idea can attract high-value visitors while supporting year-round tourism and regional development.
Tourism Ireland is to support these efforts by “elevating international perceptions” through its campaigning efforts and, if done right, it will be a winner. And then there is the pub. Tourists love our pubs and drinking Guinness in an Irish pub to a soundtrack of a session is on the bucket list of many, many people.
“A vibrant and inclusive night-time economy is central to Ireland’s tourism offering,” the plan notes. We have to cherish and support that economy and do all that we can to “to help revitalise nightlife”.
5. And finally, the welcomes
The document notes that “ensuring all visitors witness the traditional welcome that Ireland is internationally renowned for is also essential in terms of encouraging repeat visits and positive word-of mouth reviews”.
That falls to all of us – at least in part. When our friends in Barcelona are squirting water at pesky tourists eating dubious quality food on La Rambla, we should focus on embracing them – not literally – and offering them all the best of what we have and not just because it is sound economically, but just because it is sound.
