The trend in tourism towards visitors taking shorter holidays in Ireland "will bottom out" and coach tours and north American visitors will continue to be very strong markets for Ireland, a new tourism study has found.
The study, commissioned by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (Itic), found huge growth in urban, short-stay holidays from 1999 to 2004 - mostly centred on Dublin. But, at the same time, traditional tourism in non-east coast areas suffered heavy losses, particularly in the west of Ireland where the industry was said to be in "serious decline". The greatest fall was in the "bread and butter" visitors from Britain.
The problem was illustrated by a 41 per cent rise in the number of overseas visitor "bed-nights" in the Dublin area. During the same period, overseas visitor bednights in the Shannon region declined by 39 per cent.
A key recommendation of the study is that a new leisure tourism forum should be set up under the auspices of Fáilte Ireland, to integrate the work of Tourism Ireland, regional and tourism authorities and the industry.
The new forum would examine ways to attract visitors to the regions and encourage them to take longer holidays.
The study also recommends:
a product audit which assesses the tourist experience of arts, sports, culture and Irish cultural entertainment;
an enhancement programme focusing on the development of bundling and clustering of attractions; and
the fostering of "product innovation" by establishing a new national tourism product innovation centre.
According to the study, Ireland is now attracting two distinct groups of visitors: those coming for short breaks in Dublin and other urban centres which were in the ascent; and those motivated by the traditional appeals of scenery, people and activity breaks which appear to be in decline.
But the study concluded that, while there had been a major shift in consumer demands, shorter stays will bottom out and sharper and more aggressive marketing can win back business.
The study notes that an extra 57 million holidays are expected to be taken by Europeans and North Americans up to 2020, with the strongest growth in the 55-year-plus age group. It also notes that the number of North American visitors to Ireland has not declined from 1999 levels.
In terms of outlook, the study determined there would be strong growth in visitors from Europe, probably running at 3 per cent annually. The UK, Germany, France, the US and Italy were forecast to be the strongest markets. It claimed "the trend towards shorter stays will bottom out, as older tourists are not as time-limited".
Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said the report contained "a sound analysis of the issues facing regional tourism".
Fáilte Ireland increased its funding of regional tourism to over €33 million in 2005, and direct air access to the regions, particularly the western seaboard, has been significantly increased from this year, he said.
In an initial response to the study, Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue said if domestic tourism was included, "the picture would be significantly different, as a large proportion of this business favours the regions".