Future of Irish Tourism Industry

S

stargazer

Guest
Any opinions on the future of Ireland's tourism industry. Will the 3000 golf courses being built in Europe in the next 5 years effect us as a golf destination?

Do we have too many hotels?

Is the B&B sector finished?

Are we now seen as a very expensive destination?

Have vistor numbers peaked?

What can be done to build on the successes of the past?
 
Here's [broken link removed] relating to 2005 which might be relevant to at least your 2nd question.
 
stargazer said:
Have vistor numbers peaked?
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Have a look at [broken link removed]: it's a map of all direct flights to/from Dublin airport.

I see loads of room for expansion of capacity there - you might say it's capacity that can't be filled - but I bet you Aer Lingus will make a reasonable success of at least another 3-4 US routes by the end of the decade (if the legalities are ever sorted). Dermot Mannions speciality is long haul aviation, so I would'nt be surprised if we see a few routes to Australia, South Africa or South East Asia open in the coming years.

Then what about Ryanair? The minute Dublin Airport is expanded (10yrs, 20yrs?, 40yrs? never!) O'Leary will launch another huge number of routes to Europe, after all the most profitable routes out of the 200 he currently operates are UK-Ireland routes based on Irish ex-pat regions.

That's just Dublin Airport, the other airports are going to see lots of meaningful growth in the coming years (since they gained some independence). Cork now has a new terminal to woo airlines to boost capacity.

Don't forget worldwide tourism is a growing sector and will continue to do so for the next 50yrs as increasing numbers of people from China, Eastern Europe and India attain enough disposable income to travel. Inevitablely some of this growth can be absorbed by Ireland.

Don't get me wrong, there's no room for complacency - and the old marketing ploy of leprechauns simply won't suffice any more - but if we follow a logical path of ever improved service, increased choice, more facilities and try to maintain current price levels or reduce them if possible - then we should do very handsomely in the next few years from tourism.
 
Ireland has great potential to become a tourist destination for hikers if the various parties could only get the issues of land access and liabilities sorted out. I know this is a complex and emotional issue, but given the potential tourism revenue, I'm dissapointed by the lack of action or even interest on the part of the government(s) over the last 10 years.

We also have a huge number of backroads throughout the country with very light traffic. Ideal for cycling holidays, but requires some joined up thinking to implement and market.

In general I think activity holidays will be a growing area worldwide. We may not have the warmest climate, but surely with the right equipment we could market ourselves in other areas as well, such as windsurfing, mountain biking etc.
 
Ireland is simply far too expensive.
The most costly part of anyone's holiday is accomodation and food and in this regard ireland ranks very badly compared to most other countries.
Look at all the irish leaving every weekend for european destinations due to cheap ryanair flights.
When it cost me the same for 2 nights in a decent hotel in ireland as it did for a week in spain i'm not surprised and as for food i won't even go there !.
 
thewatcher said:
Ireland is simply far too expensive.
The most costly part of anyone's holiday is accomodation and food and in this regard ireland ranks very badly compared to most other countries.
Look at all the irish leaving every weekend for european destinations due to cheap ryanair flights.
When it cost me the same for 2 nights in a decent hotel in ireland as it did for a week in spain and as for food i won't even go there !.
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Well Europeans can get cheap Ryanair flights into Ireland as well! Hotel accomodation is quite reasonably priced I have found. Certainly if you compare like with like on the continent.

Food is the major letdown. We have some great restaurants around the country but there are just far too many mediocre restaurants charging good restaurant prices. It is on the food end of things that we really let ourselves down in comparison with continent IMO.
 
room305 said:
Well Europeans can get cheap Ryanair flights into Ireland as well! Hotel accomodation is quite reasonably priced I have found. Certainly if you compare like with like on the continent.

Food is the major letdown. We have some great restaurants around the country but there are just far too many mediocre restaurants charging good restaurant prices. It is on the food end of things that we really let ourselves down in comparison with continent IMO.
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http://www.venere.com/site/index.php?lg=en

Brussels 4 * E100
Paris 4 * E150
Berlin 4 * E100
Madrid 4 * E100
Dublin 4 *E200

Dublin is hardly one of the great european capitals,i'd say a lot of europeans come once and never come back.As you've said the food situation is even worse.
 
Well Dublin hotels are overpriced I will give you that.

Maybe to counteract the (justifiable) negativity from the "rip-off Ireland" articles in the media, Bord Failte could launch a "value Ireland" campaign. They could highlight hotels and restaurants that offer good value for money - across all tiers of the market.

Gotta beat the cheesy leprachauns and magic island stuff.
 
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stargazer

As a registered user, please do not post Letting Off Steam issues in other forums. This is not a consumer finance issue.

Brendan
 
Well, we do have a good "brand". Not just shilleleghs and leprechauns, but legitimate factors like stunning scenery (i don't think us natives appreciate quite how gorgeous it is) and a literary heritage disproportionate to our size.

I think we're not yet exploiting the "practice your English" market as much as we could. A lot of continental Europeans i've talked to mentioned that a plus factor in visiting Ireland was that they got to practice their English. Apparently we have nicer accents and are more patient with non-native English speakers than those other guys across the sea :p
 
Can I just say that the standard of Irish hotels are comparative with price. My old employer had us all staying at a 5* hotel in Rome 2 years ago and it was very poor. There is no comparison with, eg, Clontarf Castle and the Burlington, except for prices. The Irish 4* hotels charge only slightly less but provide far superior service. In my experience anyway!

B+B's, you can stay in a 3* hotel for the same price, I think owners need to reassess their status.
 
One area where Ireland could buck up is the way the Hospitality Industry treats parents with young children. A lot of establishments don't want to see you coming if you have a child or two in tow. Just yesterday we stopped off at this nice looking place, The Old Fort in Shannonbridge. OK the place had an Egon Ronay plaque or something similar planted on the outside, but the young girl who "greeted" us at the door hadn't qualified from any charm school! We enquired about "light fare" as opposed to the 3 course specials advertised outside. We were told quite bluntly: "we only do dinners" no such thing as perhaps directing us to somewhere else that would cater for us. Cead mile failte me ar**!
 
Can I just say that the standard of Irish hotels are comparative with price. My old employer had us all staying at a 5* hotel in Rome 2 years ago and it was very poor.
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Yeah, this is correct, there is no comparability in the star system across Europe - in Italy for example a hair dryer in the room can bump an hotel up a notch, they make no distinction between fans and air conditioning in many hotels too, thus with a fan and a hair dryer a hotel can become 4*, seriously! Top Italian hotels are expensive, crappy Italian hotels are reasonably cheap, but would be comparable in standards to most B&B's here (just remember the Italian star system is bollox, or maybe Tourism Ireland is just too honest).
 
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