DCBA report on tourism

[Panopticon]

http://www.dcba.ie/static/doclib/Rej...._Finaldoc.pdf

A Dublin business lobby group - obviously biased towards their own sector and location - but the evidence they present is strong. Cheap transport has changed tourism habits across Europe, expanding the market for city breaks. Ireland has refused to make more funding available to exploit this change in behaviour. Dublin Tourism receives 6% of the domestic tourism budget, yet is the destination of choice for 32% of tourists. Instead, we choose to spend our budget on rural areas of the country whose tourism products are mature or in decline in their life-cycle.

Direct comparison is drawn to the IDA. The IDA once obliged foreign investors to set up in poor areas. They realised that this was actually hindering overall investment: businesses wanted to locate in major cities. Our tourism funding model needs to make the same change.

[Clanrickard]

, yet is the destination of choice for 32% of tourists. .

Thanks to Aer Lingus funneling them into Dublin Aer Lingus

[Boggle]

Of course Ireland is declining in popularity. We rip them off for a bit of grub, a box of fags and a pint so why would you come here?
Go to Spain and all these things are cheaper and the weather is better.

[Panopticon]

Thanks to Aer Lingus funneling them into Dublin Aer Lingus

No, it's happening around the world. People choose more short city breaks and fewer long tour breaks. Aer Lingus is responding to this global demand shift, not creating it.

[Schuhart]

Good to see this initiative being taken. State action is, predictably, in the wrong direction.

Changes to tourism body at odds with independent report - The Irish Times - Wed, Jan 04, 2012

Tourism policy will have to be based around the belief that the world is full of people with two weeks to spare, and nothing better to do than inspect the extent to which one-off housing has defaced the Western seaboard.

Potential lies elsewhere, but this will be ignored. To be honest, I think Dublin tourism stakeholders should just take their own course with their own resources and ignore the State. State 'thinking' amounts to the idea that there's a fixed amount of 'Oirish' tourists, so the policy is all about how to drive them out of Dublin. There is no understanding that, if you drive them out of Dublin, they'll just go to Barcelona.

Neither is there any concept that other parts of the country should be competing with equivalent parts of Europe. Its all about trying to stuff Dublin, and nothing about whether the West of Ireland could compete with Portugal for surfers. Its gombeen thinking to the bone.

Thanks to Aer Lingus funneling them into Dublin Aer Lingus

What role do Aer Lingus have in Ryanair's decisions?

There was never a compulsory Dublin stopover. There was a compulsory Shannon stopover.

[deepness]

What role do Aer Lingus have in Ryanair's decisions?

There was never a compulsory Dublin stopover. There was a compulsory Shannon stopover.

What have Ryanair got to do with the link he posted?

[hammer]

Sterling at 82p will help in 2012.

[Schuhart]

What have Ryanair got to do with the link he posted?

Well, the link he posted was about this delusional "Dublin stopover" that the Shannon cult have invented to explain their demise.

However, as we know, Ryanair was similarly unable to find commercial traffic for Shannon. Its actually helpful for the Shannon cult to invest so much of their time in inventing this delusional myth about Aer Lingus, as leaves them so open to the question of why other airlines didn't turn up to exploit this illusory demand for flights to Shannon.

[Boggle]

Sterling at 82p will help in 2012.

It will help but we will still be expensive for short breaks relative to many places.

We need to address the rip-off feeling many tourists feel when leaving the country or add something to make it special and warrant the expenditure. Paris has impressive landmarks, Amsterdam has weed, spain has sunshine (and cheap booze, fags and food)... just not sure what we can market about our cities.

[Spanner Island]

Thanks to Aer Lingus funneling them into Dublin Aer Lingus

The Clare Champion - hardly an objective reference.

Regardless, if people wanted to fly to Shannon airlines would be flocking there...

Shannon needs to be cut loose to sink or swim on its own, because Knock airport ain't doing too badly these days...

Plus Ireland is smaller than the state of Maine... with just 4.5 million people... so there's probably only one major airport needed anyway...

I've always thought the midwest should have lobbied for a high speed rail link as opposed to fighting the inevitable end of the Shannon Stopover etc.

Motorway links are good now too... so I don't really get what the problem is... other than possibly a lack of innovative tourism products and facilities in the area...