Swift action urged to save west tourism

Selling tourism in the west is now like "standing on a burning platform" and only fire brigade action can save it, according to the chief executive of Ireland West Tourism, John Concannon.

With the exception of Galway city which, like urban centres on the east coast, is benefiting from the drift to short-stay city breaks, traditional tourist businesses are facing ruin, Mr Concannon has warned.

He says that since 1993 walking and trekking holidays - one of the west's biggest tourist products - declined in the Republic from 300,000 holidays per year to 165,000 holidays per year.

Similarly, bad trends were reported in the angling industry - with Mr Concannon pointing to the removal of wooden fishing stands in Co Monaghan because they were decayed and unsafe.

While the recent report on declining "bed-nights", commissioned by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC), indicated an alarming drop in the number of overseas visitors west of the Shannon, Mr Concannon believes domestic tourism is also in serious decline.

"Yes it is true that 60 per cent of the holiday market is still domestic tourism. But 2003 represented the first year that Irish people spent more on holidays outside the country than was spent inside Ireland. There was always a net gain of about €1 billion in the balance but that year for the first time the billion was wiped out as people spent more on foreign holidays".

In September the tourism bodies will bring a report to the Government in an attempt to persuade it that "this is an issue for the Exchequer". For the industry to survive the tourist bodies in the west believe there must be a reappraisal of the industry and what it is offering.

"We need new offerings which can exploit the countryside in a sustainable way. In terms of something like walking holidays, which is the big growth area, we need an audit of things like who is responsible for the trail, signposts, information and maintenance. We then need huge research - we should ask the tourists what their experience was like and then we must market the trails based on the research.

"We need a continuous cycle of innovation and investment. Uniquely Irish culture, language and music is available within one hour of the three western airports at Shannon; Galway and Knock. This is what excited the North Americans who want a uniquely Irish experience: there are nine planes on the transatlantic route. We would like to see that increase to 15 under the open skies agreement," he said.

An extra 500,000 seats were available on the new Ryanair flights through Shannon airport this summer, while EasyJet, Ryanair and Euro Manx airlines, as well as bmibaby and British airways, were now offering seats from either Knock or Galway to Britain and Europe.

"There is a uniquely Irish experience and it is accessible but we need investment to get that message across, that is what we will be seeking to persuade Government," said Mr Concannon.