EU Tourism Ministers meeting - Monday, 1 March 2021

Statement by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD

Good morning colleagues.

At the outset, I wish to thank the Portuguese Presidency and Minister Pedro Siza Vieira, for calling this meeting. The opportunity to exchange our experiences to date and to discuss possible next steps, is very welcome.

Since we last met in September, it has become clear that the catastrophic and highly disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector, will be more prolonged than first feared and will possibly be felt for several years to come. Recovery will be slow and we need to find common solutions, not just within the EU, but on a worldwide basis.

Making international travel safe again, while having regard to the evolving epidemiological situation, the evolution of testing technologies and progress being made on vaccination programmes, will be key to kick-starting tourism’s recovery. Close coordination between all of the EU Member States will remain crucial as we roll out the vaccination programme and hopefully move in the not too distant future to begin removing those travel restrictions now in place in our Member States and restore the basic right to freedom of movement which all EU citizens enjoy. The EU traffic light system for travel allows for a coordinated and standardised approach and therefore should remain as a key measure, as we hopefully move towards the end game of this pandemic.

While mass tourism may not be on the horizon in the near future, it is crucially important that we remain committed to supporting the survival of the tourism ecosystem, so that when safe travel resumes, we will be in a position to kick-start an immediate and robust recovery. Any further initiatives at EU level which promote safe travel would be welcome and I urge the Commission to consider what is possible in this regard.

We need to continue to provide the supports necessary to enable our aviation sector to survive and to maintain the necessary core capability to retain strategic connectivity. For island economies such as Ireland, it is essential that tourism is enabled by safe, competitive international access and connectivity.

We must continue to provide supports for every tourism subsector to ensure the industry and the tourism offering, isn’t massively diminished once the pandemic passes. The sector faces a significant challenge in acquiring and retaining staff with the appropriate skills. Many tourism businesses have already lost some of their best staff to other sectors, many of whom may not return to tourism due to job vulnerabilities exposed during the pandemic. Therefore it is vital that we support the sector to retain, upskill and reskill its workforce.

With the right investment and support, particularly in the survival phase, tourism can retain and enhance capacity, skills and strategic assets that will strengthen the pace of recovery, when it begins.

Last May, the Irish Government established a Tourism Recovery Taskforce that developed a Tourism Recovery Plan, which includes a set of recommendations on how best our Tourism sector can adapt and recover from the current crisis. Last December, I appointed a Recovery Oversight Group, to oversee the implementation of this Recovery Plan and also to monitor the sector’s recovery over the next number of years. This industry-led oversight Group has already submitted its first report to me and this has been a very useful input into my discussions with colleagues in Government. The collaborative approach we have taken to responding to the pandemic – involving industry the tourism agencies and Government – has been well received and has meant that we are very much attuned to the needs of the sector.

As we sow the seeds of tourism’s recovery, we must not miss the opportunity to grow a more sustainable industry from the current crisis. It has never been more important that the recovery and regrowth of tourism is based on a sustainable and balanced approach. Ireland has the ambition to be amongst the world-leaders in sustainable tourism practises and I am determined to develop a suite of actions to promote sustainable tourism practises in our country. The implementation of these actions along with the guiding principles we have developed for sustainable tourism development will underpin the advancement of a new tourism policy, with an overall emphasis on sustainability, to be adopted by the Irish Government.

The challenge for all of us is to make tourism less susceptible to the impacts of global events such as the current crisis. We need to make tourism more resilient, greener and more digitalised. We must cast a wider net in terms of our policy approach, recognising not just the environmental considerations but also the social and economic aspects of sustainability.

Over the next number of years, it is likely that we will see an increase in demand for outdoor leisure experiences, based on nature, such as walking, cycling and mountaineering. We need to implement policies that will support the development of eco-tourism, so as to build a greener, healthier and more environmentally friendly tourism offering.

Re-opening tourism businesses and managing their recovery in a way that is economically viable, safe and attractive for tourists and local communities will require coordination at a level not seen before. The roadmap to recovery will require flexibility, agility, investment and innovation, and will require a commitment to strong collaboration with the industry.

While we collectively continue to experience the dreadful impact of this pandemic on life, society and economy across Europe, there is now cause for cautious optimism as the rollout of vaccinations gathers pace.

I am confident that, together, we are resilient enough to overcome the challenges ahead and that we will see the return of a vibrant, sustainable and safe tourism sector in the not too distant future.

Thank you.