By Business & Finance The new strategy to increase the number of tourists visiting Dublin by 60% by 2020, almost doubling tourism revenue to €2.5bn, is welcome, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
According to Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber chief executive: “We look forward to working with Fáilte Ireland to implement the plan. There is a real opportunity to sharply boost tourism jobs in Dublin, and the rest of the country. Research shows that just under half of all the visitors to Dublin go on to visit other parts of Ireland.”
A core recommendation of the taskforce is that funding will come from a mix of both public and private sources. “A key challenge going forward will be to ensure that we can get the best value for money. Dublin Chamber looks forward to working with the taskforce to see how we can best leverage state support and private sector finance to deliver new initiatives,” said Quin.
The growth in tourism in Dublin is having a hugely positive affect on employment, with the latest CSO figures showing that around one quarter of the 60,000 new jobs created were in tourism-related sectors of the economy, including hotels, food and retail.
A core recommendation of the taskforce is that funding will come from a mix of both public and private sources. “A key challenge going forward will be to ensure that we can get the best value for money. Dublin Chamber looks forward to working with the Taskforce to see how we can best leverage state support and private sector finance to deliver new initiatives,” said Quin.
“Ireland’s connectivity is improving all the time, with direct flights from Dublin and San Francisco due to commence shortly and both Etihad and Emirates recently announcing an expansion of their services between Dublin and the Middle East,” Quin added.
