"we're open for business, you will probably get a better welcome than ever and Ireland is a perfectly safe place to visit." That's the message from Bord Failte's chief executive, Mr John Dully. He wants people sending negative or mixed messages abroad in the media or on websites to project a positive image for a State that has had only one outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
He also hopes the Government will add to the £35 million which the board and £55 million which the tourism industry plans to spend on attracting visitors this year. The board plans a massive communications offensive, targeting Britain, which provides 3.5 million of our holidaymakers, the 1.4 millions Europeans and 1.1 million North Americans who come here, in particular.
Mr Dully estimates that the industry has already lost £223 million in cancellations and says if this level of cancellations continues to the end of August, £0.5 billion will be wiped off our £3 billion revenue from tourism and between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs will be lost. "It's very hard to understand where the negative messages are coming from. We have to address the misconceptions. We need a communications campaign that is very focused, very visible and well-funded to be effective." He urges Irish people to holiday at home this year, to stop cancelling conferences and international meetings and to tell foreigners that the State is not closed down. He is devastated that the Irish Management Institute has cancelled its annual conference. Contrary to reports from some news agencies over the last two days, there is no ban on Irish meat and dairy exports to the EU. An Bord Bia reports that meat and dairy products, including fresh meat, are being exported as normal under the certification system set up by the Department of Agriculture. Livestock exports, however, are banned.