Holidaymakers from overseas coming to Ireland do not feel they are being ripped off by the tourism industry and an overwhelming majority would recommend this country as a holiday destination to a friend, according to the chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, Shaun Quinn.
Writing in today's Irish Times, Mr Quinn says "visitors are satisfied with value for money provided by travel to Ireland, car hire and accommodation".
While he accepts that according to Fáilte Ireland's visitor attitude surveys, the cost of eating and drinking out are considered too high, 97 per cent of visitors surveyed said they would recommend Ireland to others.
"The phrase 'rip-off Ireland' is becoming a dangerous cliche. It's too sweeping to be meaningful, too superficial to inform debate and too general to point to solutions," Mr Quinn says.
Mr Quinn's remarks coincide with the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office showing that the number of trips from overseas for the first six months of this year were up 4 per cent on the same period last year, to 3,095,000 trips. Visitors from mainland Europe were up by 19 per cent in the first six months of the year compared with the same period last year and the British market was up by almost 2 per cent to 1,719,800 visitors.
The number of trips Irish people are making abroad is also increasing, having risen 14.5 per cent in the same period. While the overall number of trips to Ireland is up, the number coming from North America fell by 5 per cent.
The figures received a general welcome yesterday, although there is concern that the improvements are not being enjoyed in all parts of the country. "We need to look behind these national returns and identify where the visitors went," said Eamonn McKeon, chief executive of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC).
"ITIC's recent study into the regional distribution of visitors shows that since 1999 while growth was achieved in Dublin and the eastern half of the country, significant losses in tourist traffic have been experienced in the western regions, notably in motoring visitors from Britain and Europe," Mr McKeon said. "It must be a national priority for the tourist industry to restore growth to the west," he added.
Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue said the figures were "encouraging" but also warned against getting carried away with an increase in overall visitor numbers. "I am aware that the growth in visitor numbers recorded for the first six months of 2005 may not fully reflect the experience of certain regions and sectors," he said.
"It is evident that there has been a shift in the nature of international tourism to our shores in recent times. The challenge now for the industry is to ensure that we have sufficiently compelling and attractive packages to entice our visitors to stay longer and travel more widely," he added.
Paul O'Toole, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said he was "happy to see what looks like the start of a turnaround in the British market, our largest market and a backbone of the Irish tourism industry's business, accounting for almost half of all our tourism revenue. The decline in the North American market is disappointing, although the figures do show a recovery in June."