Tourism is "275 per cent" more important to the west coast economy than to the Dublin economic region, according to a study published today.
Lower spending domestic tourists have replaced high-spending international visitors, however, says the study which will be presented to Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue in Dublin today.
The report by Prof Jim Deegan of the National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies at the University of Limerick and Dr Richard Moloney of the Centre for Policy Studies at NUI, Cork, shows the overall economic contribution of tourism to the region is €1.9 billion, based on expenditure by over 21 million tourists in 2003. It was commissioned by Ireland-West Tourism, which has responsibility for counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, and claims to be the first analysis of its kind for the region.
It shows that most of these visitors were daytrippers, while overseas visitors have fallen by 12 per cent since 2003. Dublin gained most in terms of tourism growth between 1990 and 2003 due to better transport links and a trend towards shorter city breaks, the report says. But tourism is of greater importance to the west, accounting for 7.6 per cent of gross added value in the region compared to 2.8 per cent gross added value in Dublin.
On this basis, tourism is "275 per cent more important" to the west coast economy, the authors state. Tourism-related employment accounts for 5.4 per cent of the workforce in the west, compared to 3 per cent in Dublin. The report says this demonstrates the importance of strong and sustained investment, innovation, development and targeted marketing.
In a further breakdown, the authors note that for every €1 spent directly by tourists in the west, a further 51 cent is generated indirectly. For every €1 million spent, some 10 jobs were created - five directly and five indirectly.
Ireland-West Tourism's chief executive John Concannon said the study outlined the "massive importance" of tourism to the west of Ireland economy.