Economics

Tourism is said to be one of Ireland’s largest service sectors for many years. In 2008, there were 7.8 million overseas visitors to Ireland and over 8.3 million domestic trips were taken by Irish residents. It is a €6.3 billion industry which represents 4% of overall GNP making it Ireland’s most important indigenous industry and generated €4.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings and €1.5 billion in revenue from domestic trips in 2008 (ihf.ie). Despite the current economic turmoil, the tourism industry continues to make a strong contribution to the Irish economy. The total value for the export of goods and services was estimated at €151.9 billion, €4.8 billion of which is associated with the tourism industry which accounts for 3.2% of exports. As the tourism industry is mainly service based, tourism goods have a low import content in comparison to other exports (failteireland.ie). According to Failte Ireland’s Tourism Business and Employment survey in 2006, it was estimated that over 249,000 people were employed in tourism and hospitality related services. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of jobs in the industry increased by 8% from 232,000 to 249,000. 60,000 of which were employed in the accommodation sector alone. 203,000 people were employed year round; with 68% being Irish nationals and 32% were non-nationals.   It provides a balanced spread of economic activity in areas where there a few employment opportunities. With an estimate of 2.1 million people employed in Ireland, 11% are employed in the tourism industry (cso.ie).

Support from the Irish Government has been a key factor in the success of tourism. However, if the industry is to continue to grow in the current economic climate, continued Government investment in marketing, infrastructure and training and human resources for tourism is crucial. “The Irish tourism industry has faced a very challenging external environment in recent years” (ITIC.ie). Between 2004 and 2008, overseas trips to Ireland...