The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation is calling upon Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to commit to spending €60 million annually over a ten year period on creating new tourist attractions in Ireland.
The Irish Times reports that the Confederation has incorporated the proposal into its pre-budget submission and wants the government to supply the requested funds to the tourism sector for the duration of the State's Capital Plan, which starts in 2019 and ends in 2028.
A representative for ITIC commented, "The current allocation of only €106 million over a six-year period is wholly inadequate for tourism's needs." ITIC added that this figure accounts for just 0.4% of the State's capital budget, with the group's chairman, Maurice Pratt, proclaiming that tourism has "not got its fair share" of State capital expenditure.
Furthermore, ITIC is calling for €20 million to be allocated to Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland to amend cuts made to their marketing budgets during the financial crisis.
