Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin conceded today the Government's controversial air travel tax was impacting negatively on decisions by airlines to adopt new routes to Ireland.
However, she warned that scrapping the controversial €10 tariff should not be seen as a “panacea” for the problems besetting the tourism industry.
Speaking at the launch of Tourism Ireland's global marketing strategy for 2011, Ms Hanafin said removing the tax in the upcoming budget was “under consideration” as it had failed to generate the expected revenue.
At the time of its introduction in 2008, it was hoped it would net the Exchequer about €125 million. Ms Hanafin said yesterday the tax would only bring in about €80 million this year because of a fall-off in visitor numbers.
While acknowledging that most industry players believed the tax was one of the key factors inhibiting people from coming here, she insisted there was no evidence to suggest it was influencing individual decisions to visit Ireland.
However, Ms Hanafin accepted the tariff was impacting airlines and the routes they chose to put on which had a knock-on affect on air access to the island.
The Government was “carefully weighing up” whether abolishing the tax would result in a sufficient boost in tourist numbers and a return for the tourism sector and the economy, she said.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said 2010 had been one of the most difficult years on record for the industry.
The agency anticipated 6.8 million people will have visited Ireland from overseas by the end of the year, which represented a decline of 11.6 per cent on 2009. Despite the prevalence of bad news headlines about Ireland around the world, the country maintained a strong brand as a tourist destination, Mr Gibbons said.
Preliminary results from this year's Fáilte Ireland visitor attitudes survey also suggested the country's value for money perception had increased by 10 per cent, he said.
“This was a very strong and positive trend which the agency would seek to capitalise on next year."
Tourism Ireland plans to launch a major advertising campaign next year to restore growth in Ireland's top four markets; Britain, United States, Germany and France, which between them delivered three-quarters of all visitors here.
The “highly visible” TV, radio and online ad campaign would see Ireland promoted as a “stand-out” destination for short city breaks and touring holidays, Mr Gibbons said.
The agency is also planning a major marketing drive around next year’s St Patrick's Day celebrations to exploit the country’s 70 million-strong diaspora.
