The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) has welcomed the creation of 3,400 extra tourism jobs, but has warned that the sector faces external threats.
The sector currently accounts for 1 in 9 jobs nationally. Recent tourism jobs include the opening of two flagship visitor attractions in Dublin – GPO’s Witness History and Epic Ireland. ITIC have warned however that growth and regional balance in tourism cannot be taken for granted. The group said that the decisions taken in Budget 2017 would be critical to the sector’s performance, especially in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum in the UK.
Paul Gallagher, Chairman of ITIC, said: “The tourism industry in Ireland has created 40,000 jobs over the past four years. However external factors such as Brexit risk making the trading environment more difficult and very uncertain.”
ITIC has called on the government to make retaining competitiveness and restoring investment to the tourism sector matters of priority in its pre-budget submission.
Mr Gallagher went on to add, “The tourism Vat rate at 9% puts Ireland on an even keel with other EU countries and it is very important that this be retained in Budget 2017. Indeed 17 of the 19 Eurozone countries have tourism Vat rates of 10% or lower – the current tourism Vat rate is therefore right-sized for Ireland. The benefits need to be felt in all parts of the country and not just urban areas or tourism hotspots,”
According to the ITIC, the tourism industry was worth €7.3 billion to the Irish economy last year and over 8 million international tourists visited Ireland in 2015. The sector paid €1.8 billion to the exchequer in taxes last year. 2016 has continued to perform strongly with 13% growth in overseas visitors for the first six months. Over the next 10 years ITIC feels that the tourism in Ireland can create an additional 50,000 jobs if the industry remains competitive and correct government policies and investment strategies are pursued.
