2019 Reports
ITIC Year End Review 2019 & Outlook for 2020
30 December 2019
2019 was a mixed year for Irish tourism with strong growth in the early months slowing sharply as the year progressed. The tourism industry was worth €9.3 billion in 2019 with 265,000 people employed in the sector making it Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer. Arrival numbers were marginally up but revenue dipped slightly, the first decline in 8 years. Brexit, the Vat hike, and increased taxation have all made trading conditions more difficult.
Sustaining success in 2020 will be challenging and ITIC calls on the Government to support the sector by release the ‘no deal’ tourism contingency fund to help stimulate demand in overseas markets.
ITIC’s Budget 2020 Submission
Competitiveness and Investment at a time of uncertainty
04 September 2019
2019 is proving a challenging year for Ireland’s tourism industry. Brexit, the Vat increase, and damaged competitiveness have all conspired to make trading conditions more difficult for Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer.
In its budget submission the representative body for Ireland’s tourism industry, ITIC, argue that competitiveness and strategic investment is vital if the sector is to be supported in this unprecedented time of uncertainty.
ITIC Competitiveness Report
13 August 2019
Competitiveness has become more important than ever for Irish tourism particularly in the context of Brexit. ITIC’s report highlights a number of metrics which show weakening competitiveness within the Irish economy and this is a cause of significant concern for Ireland’s tourism industry. The increase in input costs for the tourism industry, and particularly the fact they are rising at a rate above those in competitor country destinations, is a worrying trend that must be addressed. ITIC’s report outlines 8 clear recommendations which could, and should, be enacted to improve the sector’s competitiveness.
Tourism – A Strategy for Growth to 2025
01 May 2019 – Report Update
Last year ITIC published an 8 year roadmap for the tourism sector in Ireland entitled Tourism: An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025. The Strategy, devised after an extensive consultation period with the tourism and hospitality sector throughout Ireland, sets out ambitious goals for Irish tourism including a 65% growth in tourism earnings from overseas visitors and 80,000 more jobs nationwide. So, one year on how is the Strategy performing?
ITIC committed to carrying out regular progress updates and it is timely at this point, as we enter the busy summer season, to carry out a review of the Strategy and see what has progressed and, nearly more importantly, what has stalled.
Getting Behind the 2018 Data
21 March 2019
Last week the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published its full data on international tourist arrivals into Ireland for 2018. This is a rich trove of information and the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has looked behind the top-line data to gather key insights into Ireland’s most successful tourism year to date.
This report highlights which markets performed the strongest, why visitors come to Ireland, which tourism visitor spends the most and who stays the longest, as well as many other tourism insights.
