Tourist chiefs want Government to double spending on the industry to more than €450 million, according to a new policy document.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) points out in a new General Election Manifesto that the sector employs 258,000, making it the State’s biggest regional employer.
The confederation will call next week for a doubling in State investment in the industry to €452 million when it publishes the document on Monday.
“Currently at €226 million, ITIC argues that this is wholly inadequate for one of the few sectors that can provide regional economic balance,” states the manifesto.
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The industry wants Government to allocate the cash to State bodies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, to aid with developing new attractions, marketing and supporting its efforts to decarbonise.
The council also calls for the Government to earmark an “appropriate portion” of the €1.5 billion National Training Fund that Jack Chambers, Minister for Finance, pledged this month would be spent over the next six years.
The confederation argues that the next government should move charge of the industry to a new economic ministry, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism, Trade and Employment.
“As such a key export industry – bringing foreign revenue into the country and employing one in nine people – all decisions and policy must be formulated primarily with an economic lens,” it says.
The new department would mean that the minister and officials would treat the industry with the appropriate “economic rigour”, the organisation believes.
“A dedicated minister of state for tourism also needs to be reinstalled, an important position that served alongside the senior minister up to 2020,” the ITIC argues.
The group repeats calls for the immediate end to the controversial 32 million a year limit on Dublin Airport passengers imposed by planners in 2007 to ease road traffic congestion around the gateway.
Irish and US airlines are challenging regulators’ rulings made in light of the limit that cap slot allocations at the airport while industry figures have warned that it is damaging the Republic’s reputation with holidaymakers and investors.
The ITIC points out that international visitors contribute most of the State’s tourism revenue, so air and sea links to the rest of the world are “absolutely critical”.
To aid this, it seeks improved public transport links to Cork Airport, the State’s second-biggest gateway, as well as the prioritisation of rail lines to Dublin and Shannon.
The council warns that the Government should “carefully balance” housing and tourism to protect self-catering businesses in rural regions. It also wants a register for short-term rental properties.
“Government must lessen its dependence on hotels and guest houses for refugees and asylum seekers,” it says, adding that these beds should be returned to tourists’ use.
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