Ireland should join the Shenghen common visa zone if the common travel area with Britain falls as a result of England’s EU referendum result, Paul Gallagher of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation says.
The comment: if we need to join Shenghen, yes we should join Shenghen,” came during the launch of ITIC’s Brexit & Irish Tourism – A Call For Action report in Dublin.
It calls on the Government to provide a €12 million boost to tourism budgets to consolidate UK market share, diversify into new markets and provide a package of supports to tourism businesses.
ITIC represents airlines, hotels, tour operators, ferry companies, visitor attractions and other tourism interests.
The ITIC report, warns that failure by the Government to put policies in place to mitigate the adverse consequences of Ireland’s largest tourism market leaving the EU will damage jobs and regional growth.
Nick Mottram of Irish Ferries said the company’s new 150m ferry would be hampered by a hard border in Holyhead and it would be impossible to meet its project two and a half hour turnaround.
Gallagher said that there was no hard data on how the British market will respond but this was the biggest crisis facing Irish tourism since the Lehmann recession which caused a 23 pc decline in English visitors over 12 months and the loss of 2m English visitors over 28 months.
A Red Sea poll indicated that 7pc of English would not be travelling as a result of Brexit and the other 93pc were going to spend less.
Partly due to Budget cuts of 45pc at Tourism Ireland there was a 17pc decline in awareness of Ireland in the English market.
While agriculture, the IDA and other statutory bodies have been given extra resources, tourism has not.
The report warns that Brexit represents the biggest challenge to the sector since the global crash of 2008. Back then the value of the UK market to Irish tourism fell by 23% in the space of 12 months.
Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous sector, employing over 220,000 people, providing vital exchequer returns and regional balance. In 2016, the Irish tourism industry was worth over 8 billion euro, according to ITIC.
The ITIC report identifies the immediate impact of Brexit as being the weakening of sterling, which damages Ireland’s competiveness and is having a negative impact on tourism and hospitality businesses.
- Watch here Paul Gallagher on “the four real issues around Brexit.”
- Watch here Paul Gallagher: “If we need to join Shenghen yes we should join Shenghen.”
- Watch here Paul Gallagher pointing out that tourism is not seen as part of the export sector.
- Listen to full discussion here
