North/South Ministerial Council: Tourism

Ministerial Statements – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 12:00 pm on 1 February 2016.

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Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP 12:00, 1 February 2016

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to make a statement in compliance with section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 regarding a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in tourism sectoral format. The meeting was held in Armagh on 2 December 2015. Minister Carál Ní Chuilín and I represented the Northern Ireland Executive. The Irish Government were represented by Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I chaired the meeting. The statement has been agreed with Minister Ní Chuilín, and I make it on behalf of us both.

Ministers noted the current position of the EU funding programmes that may be of assistance to the tourism sector and agreed that the relevant tourism stakeholders in both jurisdictions will continue to monitor closely developments at EU level to ensure that tourism may benefit from all suitable collaborative funding opportunities. The chairperson, Mr Brian Ambrose, informed Ministers of the work of the Tourism Ireland board since the previous meeting, including delivering the 2015 business plan and developing the 2016 business plan, as well as progress on implementing the corporate plan for 2014-16. Ministers also learned of the progress in delivering Tourism Ireland's performance goals for 2015 and the development of the 2016 goals.

Ministers received a presentation from the CEO, Mr Niall Gibbons, on Tourism Ireland's performance throughout 2015. It contained highlights of Tourism Ireland's marketing campaign throughout the year, with particular regard to the Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway coastal route; the global greening campaign; Game of Thrones; the Irish Open; the British-Irish visa scheme; and overseas publicity.

Ministers received a performance overview of the 2015 season and were informed of emerging promotional themes for 2016, in particular, Ireland's Ancient East; Northern Ireland's Year of Food and Drink 2016; the Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway coastal route; and Dublin — A Breath of Fresh Air.

The NSMC welcomed the strong growth in visitor numbers from all main markets to Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ministers noted the current position of the 2016 business plan and the intention to bring it to the next available NSMC meeting for approval. The plan has since been approved at the NSMC Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) meeting on 11 December 2015.

The joint work to develop a compendium report on tourism statistics was noted. The study is expected to be finalised shortly, and a detailed report will be made available to Ministers at their next meeting. Ministers noted that work is progressing on the preparation of an all-island cruise tourism strategy in consultation and collaboration with key stakeholders and that it should be completed in early 2016.

The NSMC noted the ongoing work by relevant Departments in Ireland and Northern Ireland to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the preparations in hand in both jurisdictions to host the Women's Rugby World Cup in Belfast and Dublin in August 2017.

The NSMC noted Tourism Ireland's annual report and accounts for 2014. It consented to the grant of right of way over the Royal Canal towpath at Kilbrook, County Kildare, to Cathal Fitzsimmons and to the deed of transfer and grant of right of way between Waterways Ireland and Bord Na Móna Energy Ltd for lands at Begnagh, County Longford.

Ministers also consented to the transfer of lands to Waterways Ireland and a 20-year licence to Longford County Council. That is to facilitate the development of the shared pedestrian and cycle route along the Royal canal from the junction of the Longford branch at Cloonsheerin to the Westmeath county boundary at Cloonbrin for a distance of 28·2 kilometres.

The Council agreed to meet again in tourism format in spring 2016. I commend the statement to the Assembly.

Photo of Patsy McGlone Patsy McGlone Social Democratic and Labour Party

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Mo bhuíochas leis an Aire as a ráiteas. I thank the Minister for his statement. He stated:

"the relevant tourism stakeholders in both jurisdictions will continue to closely monitor developments at EU level to ensure that tourism may benefit from all suitable collaborative funding opportunities."

Will the Minister provide detail on what those developments are, which stakeholders will be monitoring them and the nature of the monitoring that is ongoing?

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

Essentially, we are working with all our partners. I regularly meet directly with the leadership of Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland. In fact, I am just back from a very successful meeting, not in the EU but in the United States, specifically in relation to the EU programme. We know that, in our work with our EU partners, our tourism figures are up. They are up in Northern Ireland and up across Ireland. Indeed, it is almost the case, which we want to encourage, that that rising tide does lift all boats. I am pressing to ensure that we maximise every opportunity that we take with our EU partners. I have asked the groups that are working directly with our partners in Europe to look specifically at all the funds to ensure that we sweat all the assets to make sure that the trajectory of upward tourism numbers is supported by every resource that is available to us from the European Union.

Photo of Gordon Dunne Gordon Dunne DUP

I thank the Minister for his statement. Can he give us some assurances that Tourism Ireland is promoting Northern Ireland across the world as a visitor destination and not just promoting Ireland as one unit, with Northern Ireland losing out?

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

I am pleased to see the work that Tourism Ireland has taken forward. It has set itself very ambitious targets for growth in 2016 from Great Britain and from all the main overseas markets. They have been set together in the 2016 business plan. I can reassure the Member that the targets have been set in the business plan and that it has been agreed.

Mr Dunne is absolutely right. Northern Ireland has a unique distinctiveness, and it has a very important role to play in attracting overseas visitors. We have stressed to Tourism Ireland — it accepts and understands the point — that one of my key priorities is to see standout specifically for Northern Ireland. To help Northern Ireland achieve its tourism potential, I have highlighted the importance of the market or the event lending itself to the potential visitor being able to see positive specific messaging about Northern Ireland. A great programme has been put together by Tourism Ireland across the United States on the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink. I was in a packed hall — I mean packed — in New York, and there was a tremendous amount of energy and goodwill among dozens of tourism providers, who were all taking a specific interest in Northern Ireland and telling me of their specific plans not only for the Year of Food and Drink but for the Gobbins cliff path; the Causeway coastal route; Titanic Belfast; the huge success that we can offer in golf; the expansion of the Waterfront Hall to bring business tourism in; HMS Caroline coming online; and city breaks to Belfast and Londonderry. All that has a specific Northern Ireland standout, and I compliment the work that Tourism Ireland is doing to ensure that that standout gets as wide a market as possible.

Photo of Máirtín Ó Muilleoir Máirtín Ó Muilleoir Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Ba mhaith liom fosta buíochas a ghabhail leis an Aire agus fáilte a chur roimhe ar ais go hÉireann ghlas. I thank the Minister for his statement. I welcome him back from his successful tour of the United States. It is 4.00 am in California and so, if the Minister yawns, he has an excuse.

I suppose that I have two questions, Minister, about this successful engagement with Tourism Ireland. The first is, before we all go on our way and seek election, those of us who are standing again in May, can we perhaps get the air development route fund up and running? I think that it would make a difference. As you know, tourism is 9% of GDP south of the border and 6% up here. Closing that gap would be enormously helpful to our airports. I think also, of course, of the States and the great wish that Belfast and its sister city of Boston could be united by an air route. Additionally, Minister, welcome back.

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

There is an important point to be made about air access. I congratulate both of our airports, which I notice have seen an increase in numbers. I also met City of Derry Airport about proposals that it has. We met in its boardroom and looked at what we can do there. I notice that Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport are reporting increased numbers of visitors and travellers, which shows that we are on the right trajectory.

The answer to your question is yes, we hope to get an air route development fund out within the financial year so that people could be aware of that. The purpose is to develop the connectivity, as the Member says, between business destinations and look at those inbound routes that have tourism potential. I am thinking of key destinations such as Germany and Scandinavia, and city destinations such as Munich, Madrid and Milan.

The Northern Ireland fund has to meet the requirements not only of Northern Ireland but also of European Union state-aid rules. It is also under the constraints of whatever the Executive can afford. I will do all that I can to ensure that I can announce the way forward in respect of air route funding before the end of the financial year.

Photo of Adrian Cochrane-Watson Adrian Cochrane-Watson UUP

I welcome the Minister back from the United States. I welcome the statement. I am keen that the 2023 World Cup is brought to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Tourism from sport is attractive to us all.

There is a huge imbalance between Dublin Airport and Belfast International, in my constituency, particularly in north Atlantic travel. It could be as much as 12:1, United being the only north Atlantic carrier out of the International. Is there any way that Tourism Ireland could promote the benefits of Belfast International and help you and others in attracting more inward travel? One aspect attractive to the traveller is that entry and customs can be cleared at Dublin Airport. I appreciate that the volume of travellers is probably not there, but it would be a huge benefit to Belfast International if the volume was there and we could do that at Belfast before travel.

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

I appreciate both points that the Member makes. In support for the Rugby World Cup bid, there is considerable work going on to ensure that it goes ahead. A director has been put in place, work is ongoing in progressing the bid, and both Administrations and agencies are fully behind it. We are trying to guide the bid preparation with an overview group, and we have set up interdepartmental groups in both jurisdictions. They have agreed the terms of reference for the groups, and Deloitte consultants will meet key government representatives to discuss several issues over the coming weeks.

There is real potential for a number of Rugby World Cup games. I met former Tánaiste Dick Spring in my offices in Netherleigh. I have been down to the Aviva. The First Minister and the deputy First Minister were recently at Kingspan to try to make sure that that bid goes ahead. The potential that we have is for hundreds of thousands coming here onto the island for up to eight World Cup games and a quarter final. Moreover, the fact that we could get key rugby international nations to base themselves here would be tremendous for spend, hotel beds and everything else.

We will be throwing our work fully behind that, and we are well supported by the likes of Brian O'Driscoll and other key ambassadors who have key influence in the rugby community. If I can use a pun, with Brian O'Driscoll and others, we will stand shoulder to shoulder, and let us hope that the selectors select Ireland for 2023 and we answer the call.

On access, funding is already provided via Tourism Ireland. It is working with the Northern Ireland airports to provide the cooperative marketing that is aimed at inbound tourism performance on new and existing routes. We will continue to look, with both airports, at how we can maximise the potential. There is a debate on this. I am pressing the UK Government on air passenger duty, and I do think that, as we have said, it does unfairly impact on Northern Ireland. I want the UK Government to address that and to deal with it and, ideally, to abolish it. I have to say that we do not seem to be getting a lot of traction back from the UK Government on that, but we will continue to press that case.

There then becomes an issue locally as to whether we take the financial hit and do it ourselves. As the Member knows, we commissioned the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy at Ulster University, which informed us that it was a weak financial tool. An additional report was brought to us to challenge that, and we asked the expert economists to look at that additional report. Again, they came back to us and said that the cost to the public finances in Northern Ireland would be so high that it would be a weak economic tool. So we are looking at what we can do, which is the air route development fund. I congratulate the Member's constituency and Graham Keddie and his team, and I want them to continue to challenge us. I want to be challenged, as long as people understand that I have to take that money out of the public finances somewhere along the line to justify it. I also have to justify it against expert advice that is saying to me that this is a weak financial tool. I will continue to work with all of our airports to maximise the potential that is coming through there, and I do believe that, in Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland, there is the willingness to do so.

Photo of Stewart Dickson Stewart Dickson Alliance

Thank you, Minister, for your statement. Minister, you may not have heard the statement made yesterday by Mr Howard Hastings, who I think most of us will agree is an expert on tourism in Northern Ireland. How do you propose to assuage his concerns and the concerns of other experts in tourism in Northern Ireland that not enough is being done to market Northern Ireland and that there is a disproportion in the way that funds are allocated to deliver that marketing of Northern Ireland? Very briefly, you made reference to the Rugby World Cup and other events and also to food and drink. Will the Minister agree that the time is right now to alter our licensing laws to make those events more friendly and amenable to that legislation as well?

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

I will answer those points in order. I thank Dr Hastings for the work that he does. He regularly gives up time and comes in, almost as an official adviser, to some bodies of mine, and he has put in a huge amount of intelligence and energy and used a wonderful network from an earned reputation for excellence in tourism that the Hastings group has to help us going forward. I am not sure that there is a single Minister who has not been challenged to spend more in any particular area. The House will be aware that my Department has invested significantly in tourism in the last number of years. We have put over £100 million into the tourism infrastructure, and tourism budgets are still healthy. We have allocated £30 million to our two tourism bodies, and we need to be smart with the resources that are available. I know that both of our tourism bodies are looking to maximise the marketing opportunities that Howard has challenged us to look at, specifically through the use of some digital marketing. Tourism Ireland has specific expertise in the digital marketing sector.

With £100 million having gone into infrastructure and £30 million having gone into both tourism bodies, our tourism figures are up. We will certainly want to keep being challenged by the industry on specific areas that it thinks that we should put more money into.

I understand the specific position on the licensing laws. I understand the difficulties, particularly for craft breweries and distilleries where, if people are visiting, you can give them a bottle, but you cannot sell them one. To a certain extent, you have to say, "Look, you can't buy it here, but if you go 300 yards or 2 miles down the road, you can buy the product". There is a difficulty there, and the Executive have agreed to look at it. I think that we want the change to maximise the economic potential of Northern Ireland commensurate with our responsibilities on alcohol.

Photo of Fearghal McKinney Fearghal McKinney Social Democratic and Labour Party

I am sure that, like me, the Minister will welcome the announcement that Northern Ireland will host the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2021. Can he reflect on the benefits to the economy of the Commonwealth Youth Games, as well as the costs, infrastructural implications and marketing? What discussions are being had with Tourism Ireland about how it will be involved?

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

First of all, I want to congratulate the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council (NICGC) on its winning bid for the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games. It has significant potential in Belfast. It is an opportunity for our young athletes from the Commonwealth family to take part in international competition. It also offers spectators the chance to see the sports stars of the future in action. DETI officials, Tourism NI and the Commonwealth Games, with responsibility specifically for Belfast for Tourism NI, are working together to ensure that the necessary business case is in place. I am working on that business case specifically to see how the event can be hosted. There is a lot of work involved with the business case. I hope to see both Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland maximising the potential of the project.

Photo of Paul Givan Paul Givan DUP

Thank you, Minister, for your statement. The Minister will be aware of the loss of the Troon ferry service. Is he able to comment on that and on what actions, if any, can possibly be taken by DETI to ensure not only that air access into Northern Ireland is enhanced but that our sea ports are a way for people to access and come to Northern Ireland?

Photo of Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell DUP

The Member raises a very important point. The decision by P&O Ferries to cease operating its Troon to Larne service was and is disappointing. However, the ferry companies operating Irish Sea services are private commercial entities and, as such, decisions regarding the viability of specific routes are commercial matters for those companies. I can tell the House and the Member specifically that no jobs will be lost due to withdrawal of the Larne to Troon service, because the staff will be redeployed to other routes.

The Member raises a key point. The sea links with Great Britain are essential for business, for tourism and for the growth of the Northern Ireland economy. I and my predecessor, the First Minister, have met ferry operators on a number of occasions. The Larne to Cairnryan service operates year round, with up to seven daily sailings each week, and additional passenger capacity will be added to the service in the coming months. Tourism Ireland will continue to work with P&O Ferries and Stena Line to promote holidays to Northern Ireland via the Irish Sea routes, including the Cairnryan to Larne service.