Working collaboratively to accelerate the growth of tourism

“The two jurisdictions may enter into more direct competition, but in saying, international tourists generally don’t visit the North in isolation. More often they enter via Dublin or gravitate southwards. You have to remember that 80 per cent of international visitors who enter the North actually access it via Dublin airport.”

O’Mara Walsh stresses the potentially adverse impact of a hardened border as a by-product of Brexit. “If we have a border, if we have border checks, if we have delays, queues, attributed costs or any psychological barriers it simply will not be benign from a tourism perspective. That is something that we are anxious about. When the new UKEU deal is resolved, it is vital that the common travel area is maintained.”

Aviation

Furthermore, ITIC identifies aviation as one underappreciated complication which has emerged as a consequence of Brexit. Currently, the UK is part of the single market and therefore is part of the EU Open Skies Agreement and the single aviation market. “This means that EU airlines can fly between each other’s airspace without any difficulties. However, when the UK leaves the single market it also leaves the single aviation market which, in theory, means that UK airlines will not be able to fly into other EU countries and vice versa.

“I imagine, and we all hope, that it will be immediately resolved and a new agreement put in place to maintain the liberalised aviation access that we presently enjoy. It is too important. The consumer demands that aviation access is maintained between the UK and the EU.”

Diversification

In order to counter the threats posed to Irish tourism, O’Mara Walsh argues that more funding is required for the allisland marketing agency. “Tourism Ireland has had its budget slashed by over 40 per cent in the last seven years. That money needs to be restored to the budget so that it can be aggressively invested in new markets to ensure that we don’t have the dependency upon the UK that currently exists.”

Germany, he argues, is a classic example of an untapped market. “Germany has 80 million outbound trips per year and is the largest travel market in Europe. It’s right on our doorstep and yet Ireland receives less than 1 per cent of that market. The type of diversification required doesn’t happen on its own. You need to create awareness of Ireland as a holiday destination and funding can facilitate that. That comes down to marketing and media spend. The product is very good, but equally we need help to acquire the tools required to maintain our competitiveness.

“The downturn in Tourism Ireland’s marketing funds over the last few years needs to be reversed immediately. That’s a call to the Dublin Government, but also the northern Executive that they must support the industry. It’s the biggest indigenous sector on the island with 220,000 employed in the South and a further 60,000 employed in the North. It cannot be offshored or outsourced and in terms of employment it’s bigger than both agriculture and construction.”

Competitiveness

In the current economic and political climate competitiveness is crucial, especially for an export industry like tourism. “For the island as a whole, investment should be made in terms of product and infrastructure. We need new attractions of scale and of interest. The North is developing a product or an experience of scale, so we will see what emerges. Having those hooks, both in terms of marketing and product is important if we want to sustain the industry,” maintains the ITIC CEO.

“In the North we saw how the likes of the Titanic Belfast project immediately created a destination driver for the city. Likewise, we need those new, exciting and compelling products of scale that appeal to international visitors to come onstream every few years. We cannot be complacent and assume that The Wild Atlantic Way or the Causeway coast is enough. We must consistently add to, improve and generally enrich our product.”

Some of the major factors which could facilitate enhanced competitiveness from a Northern Ireland perspective concern improved taxation for tourism. O’Mara Walsh highlights: “In the North the tourism VAT rate is currently at 20 per cent. Meanwhile, 17 out of 19 eurozone countries have VAT rates of 10 per cent or less for the tourism industry, so the North is way out of kilter.

“Simultaneously, with regards to Air Passenger Duty, for flights originating within Northern Ireland rates are set at £13/£26/£78 [reduced/standard/higher] for destinations within 2,000 miles of London and destinations over 2,000 miles from London which connect elsewhere beforehand. There is no equivalent in the Republic or elsewhere.”

Complacency

Due to the strong performance of the Irish tourism industry over recent years, the ITIC leader suggests that it is taken for granted to some degree. “The danger of such complacency is that tourism is extremely susceptible to external shocks. We are not solely in charge of our destiny in that respect. For example, in the past we had 9/11, SARS, foot and mouth, the volcanic ash cloud in 2010 and any of these random events can have a significant impact.

“Currently that external shock is Brexit.