The tourism industry must redefine its product, emphasising the "experience" of Ireland rather than just selling it as a place to go, the chief executive of Tourism Ireland, Paul O'Toole, has said.
Addressing the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Toole outlined a three-year strategy.
He said that although there was overall growth in tourism figures last year of 3 per cent to over 7.6 million visitors, "not all sectors or regions benefited equally". He also said the British market, which has long driven the industry here, was particularly disappointing last year, delivering a "flat performance".
Urban regions saw growth, while the west in particular suffered, reflecting a growing shift towards shorter breaks.
"On a positive note, we saw strong recovery in the important North America market. Visitor numbers grew by 8 per cent, which exceeded our target," Mr O'Toole said.
A major review of the British market was undertaken last year and Tourism Ireland had now "finalised a co-operative strategy to restore growth to the British market". Prospective visitors from Britain would have to be helped to imagine what they would do when they got here, said Mr O'Toole.
To this end, he continued, Tourism Ireland was taking a new approach in its advertising, emphasising holiday experiences "rather than simply promoting Ireland as a holiday destination. In tandem, the wider industry needs to move away from selling product components such as bed nights or seats and instead bend these and other components into an attractive holiday experience."
Mr O'Toole said the tourism industry "continues to face major challenges in its efforts to achieve a better spread of business to all regions in an intensely competitive and changing marketplace".
He said a senior manager had been appointed to encourage more people to visit the regions beyond Dublin and specific funds had been allocated - "including a €1.4 million package of investment to support the car-brought market in Britain and €.0.5 million support for Ireland's western regions campaign".
