TOURISM targets of a 7 per cent growth in numbers and 9 per cent in revenue will be met in 1997, the director general of Bord Failte, Mr Matt McNulty, said yesterday.
He expressed surprise at the statement by Ms Liz Fahy, managing director of Holiday Ireland, that there was a high level of cancellations by overseas holidaymakers.
Mr McNulty said Central Statistics Office figures, which will become available shortly, will show that Ireland is on course to increase visitor numbers from last year's record of 4.7 million people. Revenue from tourism will also outstrip last year's record of £1.45 billion.
Mr David Bunworth, Aer Lingus's marketing director, said last night the German market was soft because of the strength of the Irish pound and the weakness of the German economy, but otherwise Aer Lingus was more than happy with the outlook for the summer. Aer Lingus, which will launch a new service to Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday, is reporting strong bookings from the United States, according to Mr Bunworth.
The chief executive of Jurys Hotel Group, Mr Peter Malone, said all the indications were for a good season. Bookings for the Jurys Cabaret were a good barometer of the overall pattern and they were very healthy, Mr Malone said.
Mr Eamonn McKeon, chief executive of Great Southern Hotels, said nobody is suggesting that 1997 will be a bad year. "Perhaps the figures from the US may be a little disappointing from what we had expected, but I still expect growth," he added.
The chief executive of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, Mr Brendan Leahy, said recent soundings among the membership confirmed a problem with the German market but otherwise there was no cause for alarm.
A spokesman for Bord Failte said currency movements had made Ireland more expensive for Germans, with a 20 per cent appreciation in the Irish currency in two years. However, he added, currency movements have made Ireland cheaper for British visitors.
Mr Sean McEniff a Donegal based hotelier, told The Irish Times that 1997 will he a verb good year for tourism. "The private sector does not invest in something that is not working," Mr McEniff said.
Ms Fahy, whose Holiday Ireland company represents 40 hotels, said cancellations of bookings in 1996 had been at a "worryingly high level" of 35 per cent, but this year had seen an increase to 62 per cent. Mr McNulty said this figure bore no relation to what the industry was saying to Bord Failte, and he had asked for a meeting with Ms Fahy to "share her thoughts with us" on her statement.
Bord Failte is conducting a workshop in Dublin today for 500 members of the tourist industry and 140 overseas tour operators. Mr McNulty is giving a press briefing on the outlook for the 1997 season. He will also defend the introduction of the new logo for Irish tourism which, its critics say, is too complex and lacks the impact of the shamrock.