This article is from page 2 of the 2008-06-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
SPENDING more money to keep the profile of the Shannon region top of the list for travellers is the only way to beat the tourism slump.
The Government and tourism agen- cies need to come up with €6 million in promotional cash for next year – in excess of the €10 million spent on national marketing – to keep us on the tourism radar.
Those were two of the major find- ings of a new report which takes a first look at the state of tourism in the region under Open Skies.
Commissioned by Shannon Devel- opment and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, “Shannon, Gateway
to the West – A Short Term Market- ing Perspective” argues that Ireland recovered faster from the travel slump in the wake on 9/11 than any other European country thanks to our aggressive marketing campaign. Prepared by Tourism and Transport Consult International (TTC), the re- port calls for a list of actions to com- bat fall off of between 10 and 30 per cent in visitor numbers to the region. The action plan should include Gov- ernment commitment to extra finance for the “Discover Ireland’s Wonder- ful West” campaign for at least two more years, the establishment of a US Customs and Border Protection full pre-clearance unit at Shannon Air- port, increased marketing support for
European routes and continued work to secure all existing transatlantic routes at Shannon.
Delivering better value to visitors and continuing investments to create reasons to visit the region, are also a priority.
Asked at the launch of the report in Adare Manor last week how the Government could be persuaded to put more money in at a time when the economy is cooling, Dick Bourke, Chairman of the TTC said the Gov- ernment will get back what they put in many times over.
“The exchequer take on tourism rev- enue is 48 cents in every Euro. That’s €2.6 billion per annum. We are ask- ing for a drop in the ocean. There are
17,/00 businesses which make up the tourism industry in this country. They support employment for over a quarter of a million people.”
John King, Heritage and Tourism Director of Shannon Development, said that the immediate challenge facing the region was securing exist- ing access and related services in dif- ficult times.
“Many of the current problems fac- ing the sector will diminish in time and Shannon and the west must re- main positioned to take full advan- tage of this recovery.
Connectivity, marketing and tour- ism product development will remain key to this aspiration,’ Mr King add- ed.