TRAVEL INDUSTRY:THE NEW Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar said he will get rid of the travel tax subject to getting agreement from the airlines that they will re-open some closed routes.
“We are willing to do a number of things to make Ireland a cheaper, more attractive place for tourists but there has to be a quid pro quo for that,” he said.
Mr Varadkar also plans to reduce the lower rate of VAT as well as employers’ PRSI which will help improve competitiveness in the industry.
This will come as welcome news in the wake of the World Economic Forum’s travel and tourism competitiveness report which found that poor public transport and high prices have left Ireland lagging behind the rest of the EU when it comes to attracting foreign tourists.
The Republic has been ranked 21st out of 139 countries having been ranked 18th in 2009 and is outperformed by 14 other EU member states.
The report, published every two years, measured the factors and policies that make a travel and tourism industry attractive for development, using “pillars” of competitiveness such as environmental regulation, infrastructure and both natural and cultural resources.
Prices were identified as a particular problem, with the report ranking Ireland sixth from the bottom in relation to purchasing power parity.
Only Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland are more expensive places to holiday. Ireland was ranked 123rd out of 139 countries for fuel price competitiveness.
Transport was also seen as a week area with the quality of the State’s ground transport network ranked at 104 out of 139.
Despite marketing ourselves as Ireland of the welcomes, 14 other countries were perceived to have a better attitude towards tourists than Ireland.
On a more positive note, the country’s travel sector fared well in areas such as its tourism infrastructure, environmental sustainability, safety and security, and health and hygiene.
Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said he was pleased that Ireland had been ranked in 10th place for the marketing and branding of itself as a tourist destination.
“That’s obviously a key thing for us. It sends a confident message,” he said.
“We’ve been aware of the value-for-money issue for a while and are working with the Irish Hotels Federation and the Restaurants Association of Ireland to promote the value message. The price of eating out has fallen and we now have the cheapest hotel prices in Western Europe.”
Mr Gibbons said one issue of concern was the axing of some routes by airlines into Ireland.
“In 2008, we had 500,000 seats coming into Ireland every week. By 2010, that had dropped to 425,000. We need to work with airlines to keep routes open and to reopen those that were closed,” he said.
Meanwhile, at its annual conference during the week, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) called on the Government to urgently implement a strategic plan to repair the damage caused to the country’s reputation internationally following the economic and political events of the past two years or so.
IHF president Paul Gallagher told delegates it was “time to draw a line under the negativity of recent years”.
“We need a co-ordinated and sustained programme to repair the damage caused to our image. This should start with members of the Government, who represent a fresh beginning and should be leveraged along with high profile cultural ambassadors to re-energise brand Ireland,” he said.