The first manifesto of the General Election campaign was published yesterday, not by a political party,
but by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation.
ITIC president Paul Gallagher (pictured) joined with employers' body IBEC to launch a manifesto
which sets out the industry’s key priorities for any incoming government.
ITIC says that although tourism has performed strongly in recent years and is now worth a record €7.3 billion annually and employs 224,000 people, future growth cannot be taken for granted. 'It is vital that any new government helps address a number of key areas; staying competitive, product investment, capacity challenges, and destination marketing. ITIC is confident that recent successes can continue and the industry can deliver sustained economic growth and employment throughout the country but only if the right government policies and investment strategies are pursued'.
The main points of the manifesto are:
1. Maintaining Competitiveness
Ireland is currently ranked more expensive than ten competitor destinations in Europe. Labour costs are rising. The industry is at a competitive disadvantage because of the higher cost of utilities and local government rates, as well as the lack
of a supply of qualifi ed staff .
What Action is Needed
• Reform income taxes and the regulatory framework
• Maintain the 9% VAT rate
• Provide education and training more in tune with industry needs
2. Investing for Growth
Investment by the state in tourism has been in continuous decline over recent years. Th e Government has a target of attracting 10 million international visitors to Ireland by 2025. However, the recent €27 billion National Infrastructure and
Capital Investment Plan 2016 – 2021 allocated only €106 million to tourism over this fi ve-year period, a disappointing and inadequate sum for an industry employing
over 220,000 people.
What Action is Needed
• Increase the capital expenditure budget
• Introduce Government incentives to stimulate investment
• Give training incentives for businesses
3. Destination Marketing
Ireland’s spend on destination marketing has almost halved over the past seven years, despite an increasingly challenging trading environment and more competition in the marketplace. Ireland’s share of voice in its top source markets has
dropped. Th e inevitable result of this is a damaging loss of impact in winning attention and infl uencing potential tourists.
What Action is Needed
• Reverse the cuts to the destination marketing budgets
• Introduce a measurement system to monitor return on destination
marketing investment
• Maximise effi ciency in the organisational arrangements for the delivery of destination marketing programmes
