Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have welcomed funding announced as part of Budget 2023.
Fáilte Ireland
Fáilte Ireland said that it welcomes the tourism specific and wider economic measures announced in Budget 2023, with its CEO, Paul Kelly, stating, "The funding for the tourism sector secured by Minister Catherine Martin TD will ensure we can continue our important work of implementing recovery programmes and campaigns to help deliver economic growth of the industry and individual tourism businesses. There are significant challenges facing the tourism sector and the viability of some tourism businesses is a real concern. Funding has been maintained in Budget 2023 for Fáilte Ireland to specifically ensure we can continue to support tourism businesses through our key initiatives and campaigns."
Kelly continued, "The Budget 2023 measures announced will also help us to continue our work on tourism careers and skills as we support the industry to recruit and retain staff in the short-term and to build a pipeline of future employees. We recently launched a new employer excellence initiative to help reposition how the industry is seen as a career choice and support businesses to consistently drive good employment practices, build the appeal of their workplace and showcase good employers across the industry. It is critical we continue this important work."
Kelly added, "Festivals and events play a key role in attracting domestic and international visitors, and Budget 2023 will allow for continued investment in hosting large scale events such as US college football and the development of new festivals. The allocation for domestic marketing will allow us to continue to produce sales and marketing campaigns to maximise home holidays which have proved vital in helping businesses survive and protecting jobs."
Kelly concluded, "The maintenance of the allocation in capital funding for tourism development will help us continue to support the delivery of enhanced tourism amenities in line with the objectives of the new National Development Plan 2021-2030. Enhancing the digital capabilities of tourism businesses is critical for growth and our tailored 'Digital that Delivers' programme will provide businesses with tools to boost their online distribution and booking systems to empower them to compete in a highly competitive global marketplace. Budget 2023 will also allow us to continue our work ensuring that the tourism sector plays its part to help deliver Ireland's commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and achieve the ambition of the Sustainable Tourism Working group which aims to place Ireland amongst the world leaders in sustainable tourism practices."
Tourism Ireland
Welcoming the additional funding allocated to Tourism Ireland in Budget 2023, Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said, "We very much welcome the €15 million increase in the Tourism Marketing Fund for next year, allocated in Budget 2023, which demonstrates the government's continued commitment to Irish tourism in these challenging times. As we continue and consolidate the recovery in tourism from overseas, this additional funding will allow Tourism Ireland to 'put our best foot forward' and roll out a really strong programme of promotions throughout 2023. The additional investment will allow us to upweight our campaigns in our international markets, punch through the noise and convert 'lookers' to 'bookers'. We look forward to continuing to work with our tourism industry partners, to build a long-term sustainable recovery for our industry."
© 2022 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
