Fáilte Ireland plans to increase business tourism in the Republic by about 20 per cent over the next year in a bid to widen its exposure to the most lucrative sector of the tourism industry.
Speaking yesterday during a tourism conference in Dublin, Fáilte Ireland's chief executive Shaun Quinn said the business tourism market was significantly more lucrative than leisure travel, with business visitors spending on average 70 per cent more than other travellers.
Globally the business tourism market is worth about €40 billion, with Ireland's share coming in at about €400 million. Currently about 20 per cent of visitors to the State are here primarily on business, a number which grew by about 26 per cent last year.
"This is an increasingly important area and one we intend to focus on going forward," said Mr Quinn, adding that the development of the National Conference Centre is essential to Ireland's success in this market. As a result he welcomed the Government's decision to build the centre in Dublin's Spencer Dock, saying it is the one facility that Ireland lacks.
He described the delay in developing the centre as very negative for the State, stating that half of the world's key decision makers were ruling out Ireland as a business destination because it didn't have a conference venue.
The Government announced plans to go ahead with the development of the venue in November, though it is unlikely to open before 2009. "We see the centre as a great opportunity for Ireland as a business location and one that we can build on," said Mr Quinn.
In the future the main focus will be to attract large conferences for between 2,000 and 2,500 people from the financial services, healthcare and IT sectors in the hope that some of the delegates stay on and visit other parts of Ireland, he said.
However, the outlook isn't all rosy. While the number of tourists entering the country increased by about 5 per cent last year to 8.1 million and is forecast to rise further to 8.5 million this year, many small businesses, particularly bed and breakfasts in rural areas, are struggling to make ends meet.
"This is a booming economy but a knock-on effect is that the cost of doing business has gone up significantly," said Mr Quinn. "The tourism industry is made up of a lot of small members and in this situation the smaller you are, the more difficult it is for you to cut costs."
He also called for a change in the Irish law that prevents business tourists being reimbursed for hotel and restaurant expenses. He said the fact that Ireland is the only European state with a VAT rate of over 10 per cent that doesn't allow such costs to be reimbursed may act as a competitive disadvantage.
Overall, Failte Ireland said it was spending €10 million developing the tourism agenda, with a significant proportion of the budget being spent on staff training and helping small business within the industry cope with the increased competition in the sector.
