Economics

Tourism is said to be one of Ireland’s largest service sectors for many years. In 2008, there were 7.8 million overseas visitors to Ireland and over 8.3 million domestic trips were taken by Irish residents. It is a €6.3 billion industry which represents 4% of overall GNP making it Ireland’s most important indigenous industry and generated €4.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings and €1.5 billion in revenue from domestic trips in 2008 (ihf.ie). Despite the current economic turmoil, the tourism industry continues to make a strong contribution to the Irish economy. The total value for the export of goods and services was estimated at €151.9 billion, €4.8 billion of which is associated with the tourism industry which accounts for 3.2% of exports. As the tourism industry is mainly service based, tourism goods have a low import content in comparison to other exports (failteireland.ie). According to Failte Ireland’s Tourism Business and Employment survey in 2006, it was estimated that over 249,000 people were employed in tourism and hospitality related services. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of jobs in the industry increased by 8% from 232,000 to 249,000. 60,000 of which were employed in the accommodation sector alone. 203,000 people were employed year round; with 68% being Irish nationals and 32% were non-nationals. It provides a balanced spread of economic activity in areas where there a few employment opportunities. With an estimate of 2.1 million people employed in Ireland, 11% are employed in the tourism industry (cso.ie). Support from the Irish Government has been a key factor in the success of tourism. However, if the industry is to continue to grow in the current economic climate, continued Government investment in marketing, infrastructure and training and human resources for tourism is crucial. “The Irish tourism industry has faced a very challenging external environment in recent years” (ITIC.ie). Between 2004 and 2008, overseas trips to Ireland increased by 19%. Visits to Ireland by residents of Great Britain decreased by 4.6% between 2006 and 2008 while domestic trips have increased by 19% between 2004 and 2008. The total earnings from visitors to Ireland in 2008 were €4,781 million which was slightly less than what was earned in 2007 (ihf.ie). The trends in the overseas market have been affected by a number of factors which in turn affects revenue growth and some of these are out of the industries control such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the U.S., and the growing number of short breaks instead of full length holidays which is increasing a global trend toward short break holidays and decreasing revenue earned from the holidaymaker. In 2007, the then minister for the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’ Donoghue announced there was to be an €800 million tourism development plan under the National Development Plan 2007-2013. Out of the total sum, €335 million was to be used to promote Ireland as a tourist destination in “key international markets”. The main objective over the time given is to increase tourism revenue by investing in the Tourism Marketing Fund to market the island of Ireland internationally and to market existing and new access transport routes. €317 million is to be used to upgrade tourist attractions and build a National Conference Centre in Dublin. €148 million is to help with the education and training of those involved in the tourism workforce and to “support the upgrading of the capability of firms in the sector (dast.gov.ie).