Kilkenny hoteliers have called on the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, to appoint a dedicated tourism tsar to spearhead Ireland’s tourism marketing strategy in Britain.
The Kilkenny members of the Irish Hotels Federation state that Ireland has experienced a catastrophic drop in visitors from Britain since 2008, down more than 30 per cent, which has left many local tourism businesses across the county struggling to survive.
The drop in British visitors to Ireland has been twice that experienced by our European competitors who have been more successful in retaining British market share, indicating an abysmal failure of the current strategy for marketing Ireland to our nearest neighbour.
Mr Damien Lynch, chairman, South East Branch of the IHF, says that the freefall in the British market is having an enormous effect on Kilkenny tourism.
He said: “Despite substantial investment in marketing Ireland to Britain, visitor numbers have fallen off a cliff. In terms of marketing, Ireland is clearly doing something wrong if we’re losing visitors from Britain at double the rate of our European competitors. Plain and simple, there has been a disastrous failure to re-energise the British market and get the message out that Ireland has tremendous value to offer as a holiday destination.
“Given the unprecedented collapse in visitor numbers, we’re calling on Minister Hanafin to respond with a sense of urgency and ensure the right person is at the reins to lead the marketing effort in Britain. We need a person with vision, a proven track record in international marketing, and an in-depth understanding of our tourism product. In light of the additional challenges facing the British economy as austerity measures come online later this year, we need to do everything in our power now to reverse the downward trend before things deteriorates further.”
Mr Lynch states that the appointment of a tourism tsar for the British market would resuscitate Ireland’s marketing efforts and provide greater focus in attracting visitors from our nearest neighbour.
He said: “On the ground, Kilkenny hotels and guesthouses are witnessing further declines in holiday-makers from Britain and we are bracing ourselves for a total drop of 16 per cent in 2010 alone.”
