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Tourism (Northern Ireland)

They would probably count in the tourism statistics. [Interruption.] I am sure that Kerry will find a way of counting them as tourists—they are cute at that sort of thing in Kerry. However, the town of Killarney has more hotel beds than the whole of Northern Ireland, which tells us something about the scale of the opportunities that we are missing out on. Given that level of supply, and all the attractions in Killarney, it is obviously not Tourism Ireland’s fault that foreign tourists very much want the south-west of Ireland to be part of their experience. We must therefore ensure that we build up our infrastructure, amenities and accommodation so that people know that is worth while being up in the north-west and other parts of the north of Ireland. As we manage tourism in government terms, we must also tackle the disparate way in which so many tourism issues and visitor attractions are dealt with. When Departments were created on devolution, some of us proposed that tourism should be part of the brief of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, but others argued that it should stay with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. Our hope and understanding was that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment would deal with the hospitality sector—that is, hotels—and with selective financial assistance, but that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure would take responsibility for co-ordinating tourism amenities. Some heritage sites are with the Department of the Environment, while other attractions for tourists and local visitors, such as some of the forests, are with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Many visitor amenities are owned by councils, while other amenities and interpretive centres are owned by arm’s length companies, and community and voluntary bodies. They all have very different opening policies, and there is a lack of a clear, integrated information system. The idea was that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure would marshal resources and deal with that side of things, but that never happened, and we have all missed out quite a lot since. There are therefore things that we need to rationalise and fine-tune if we are to determine which parts of the Government relate to and take responsibility for which parts of our tourism potential. In all this, there is also the question of developing the tourism work force. One problem is that many people do not see the tourism sector as offering a long-term career. In addition, many business players in the sector feel that if they invest in work force development, somebody else or somewhere else will simply poach the fruits of their work. There is therefore a disincentive to such investment, and we need to look at how we can develop and improve our tourism work force properly, because the lack of investment clearly comes through in the tourism experience and perhaps sometimes leaves people who come to parts of Northern Ireland feeling a little less satisfied than they do when they go to other places. Northern Ireland also needs to understand that as we grow tourism, the tourist trade will include not only the hotels and the bars but the small shops, the cafés and everything else; they are all part of selling the area and providing the information and added direction. Again, we need to develop that sense of awareness. In all that, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and regional tourism partnerships have a strong role to play. It is wrong for people to create a false tension between the role of a regional body such as the tourist board and the sub-regional bodies, such as the tourism partnerships, and the clear international marketing role of Tourism Ireland. Working all such systems and networks together, we can increase the number of tourists and ensure that they go away with positive experiences and, in turn, bring in more tourists. Hon. Members have referred to signage. I agree with the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson); people with small businesses who are stepping out and saying, ““Yeah, we’re going to take the risk and invest in the tourism potential of this place,”” should not find themselves rationed to one brown sign, and having to pick which of three or four perhaps very relevant roads it will be on. That is simply nonsense; people should not lack such basic support and co-operation. We need to remember that growing our tourism industry will involve a lot of small firms and individuals diversifying, not least in rural areas. As they choose to diversify, make that investment and take that risk, people should not be handicapped by needless regulation and controls, without the assistance that—given all the noises that they hear from all the politicians, not least the Government—they have every right to expect. I look forward to hearing about how the Government intend to address some of the budgetary issues of tourism support and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s spend in the south of Ireland at the minute. Never mind marketing Ireland north and south together through Tourism Ireland; Northern Ireland has a very ready market to the south. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s spend in the Republic of Ireland was reduced this year and last, yet big money is about to flow into households in the south of Ireland, as the special savings incentive accounts are maturing. Big money is going to come in; there will be big disposable incomes. People are looking to spend the money in different ways; one has only to look at the Irish newspapers to see how many ads there are for this, that and the other, all based on that big money boost. We could bring in some of the money that is floating about there if people from the south come to Northern Ireland as tourists. But what are we doing? The Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s tourist promotion budget in the south is being cut. That seems utter folly. Again, I ask the Government to think again about how they can better assist what they say they want to assist through sensible and accommodating budgeting.