2026-01-13

109. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in light of the recently calculated €1 billion fall in tourism revenue year-on-year, the factors his Department has identified as driving this decline; the immediate actions he intends to take to stabilise the sector and prevent further losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1338/26]

What factors have been identified by the Department as driving the year-on-year decline of €1 billion in tourism revenue, as recently calculated? What immediate actions does the Minister intend to take to stabilise the sector and prevent further losses?

I thank Deputy Lawlor for this important question. While I acknowledge his observations on revenue, the CSO statistics indicate a more optimistic picture for 2025. Overall tourism revenue in 2025 remained strong, albeit at a slightly lower level than the exceptional high levels reached in 2024 but on par with 2023. Encouragingly, the latest CSO data show a return to growth in overseas visitor numbers and expenditure towards the end of the year. The CSO reports that in November 2025, overseas visitors spent €347 million on trips excluding fares. This represents a 10% increase when compared with November 2024 and a rise of 4% compared with November 2023. Some 460,300 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in November 2025, an increase of 13% compared with the same month in 2024 and up 3% compared with November 2023. This is the fourth consecutive month of 2025 to show growth in visitor numbers compared with 2024, which is very encouraging after a slow start. I recognise that the tourism sector continues to face challenges including competitiveness pressures, macroeconomic uncertainty and the need to strengthen connectivity. As Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, I am focused on ensuring that recent momentum is sustained. Addressing these challenges while supporting long-term resilience and productivity is a key priority for my Department and sits firmly within the wider enterprise and employment agenda. In November 2025, the Department and me published our national tourism policy statement, A New Era for Irish Tourism. This five-year strategy provides a clear framework to 2031 to grow our revenue and visitor numbers and, critically, career pathways within the sector.

I thank the Minister for his response. Someone’s figures are not adding up. There has been a clash – I think the CSO was saying one figure and the industry was saying another. The indications are that foreign spending slumped by almost €1 billion and total international visitors are down year on year by some 13%. As one can imagine in an industry worth €8.9 billion to the economy with, I think, around 200,000 people employed directly and indirectly, that is a shocking statistic. I appreciate what the Minister said about there appearing to be some pickup. While North America showed some growth, markets like Britain, France and Germany, surprisingly, appear to have declined. One could suggest geopolitical activity may have had some influence on some of the markets but for North America to show growth while the others decline is quite surprising and requires some investigation.

The Deputy is quite right in relation to the CSO earlier in the year. I was making the point that it has recovered significantly over the past four months. We took immediate action. We brought forward a plan that will grow the sector significantly over the next five years. I will work on extending the season because 50% of visitors come from June to September. We are trying to bring it from St. Brigid's Day out to Halloween which will be a significant asset. We are also looking at an all-Ireland culinary strategy which will assist growth of the food and beverage sector. Critically, we will have 12% more seats coming into Ireland through our air carriers this winter. If one looks at the markets the Deputy mentioned, we will have 13% more in Germany, 8% more in France and 7% more in the UK. The previous winter, we had 9% fewer seats in total. That has been a big challenge for the sector. There are 46,000 SMEs which deliver our authentic tourism product. They are now in the heart of my Department. That is why policy has changed. I have made a complete gear change, with my two Ministers of State, in tourism policy. We are working to support SMEs, extend the season and work on accommodation providers. We have 11,500 beds now in construction, 8,600 of which are in Dublin, and moving away from State contracts with private hotel accommodation which will be important for the sector.

I welcome some of the initiatives the Minister has announced. There are markets we can work on. I gave the example of Savannah in Georgia before. A number of Ministers have visited Savannah as part of the St. Patrick’s Day connections. Savannah has huge Irish connections. The city has a population of 170,000. Last year, it had 17 million visitors. If one considers that Australia had about 10 million in total, this is a vast market we should tap into. There is no direct flight to Savannah. I flew there a number of times to celebrate with the local people because of the strong Wexford connections. It took me 24 hours to get there despite the massive connections we have with that part of North America in south-east Georgia. We really need to tap into it and work with it. We will reap the rewards and the dividends will come back to Ireland Inc.

It is a very important destination for us. We have 21 gateway hubs with the US now. We are keen on expanding them. I was in Savannah and Atlanta for a St. Patrick’s Day mission a couple of years ago. Delta raised with me that it wanted to put new routes into Ireland but the cap at that point precluded it from doing so. We need to resolve the airport cap this year - that will be critically important - and grow those routes. I have specifically raised the strategic air activation scheme with Tourism Ireland which could work for Savannah. It would be important to try to get direct flights in. I am aware of the tertiary education link with Wexford and strong links there with the great work taking place on the ground in Wexford and in Savannah. The enthusiasm is incredible. So many business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic are working hand in glove. I would be very happy to work with Deputy on that to try to get that connectivity. It is an important marketplace for Ireland. Two-way bilateral relations benefit both sides, as we can see from tertiary education and other areas.