Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-07-Speech-3-179"
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"en.20050907.19.3-179"2
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".
Mr President, first of all I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Queiró, on compiling this comprehensive and detailed report, which I welcome. I believe that the development of European tourism is inextricably linked to the development of transport and infrastructure across the EU.
As many of my colleagues have mentioned, tourism is a very important industry. Affordable travel has enabled us to move around more freely for business and pleasure. Air travel in particular has become cheaper and more convenient for everyone. However, small regional airports are finding it more difficult to compete with larger international airports and as a result there has been an imbalance in the regional development of tourism. This needs to be addressed.
This imbalance is very clear in my own country, Ireland, and I would like to dwell on that for a minute, if I may. As an island, we are very dependent on air travel for both tourism and business and, as one of the most open economies in Europe, we have, over the past decade, reaped the benefits of liberalisation of EU regulations regarding air services. The low-cost model of air travel has been a huge success. More and more flights and lower air fares have improved Ireland's attractiveness as a holiday destination and Irish tourism is performing very well.
In 2005 we saw a 4% growth rate in overseas visitor numbers. However, this increase in visitor numbers is masking an underlying trend, a striking regional imbalance. Figures show that visitor growth is concentrated mainly on the east coast of Ireland around the capital, Dublin. The north-west, the west and the Shannon regions are displaying the weakest growth. These regions have very major tourist potential, but they suffer because of lack of comparable access.
The west, and north-west in particular, have long been at a distinct disadvantage, due to the limited number of flights and destinations available from the regional airports. Aer Lingus, the national carrier, does not serve any European destination except the UK from regional airports. Not only does this cause problems for commuters and tourists in reaching the west and north-west, it also makes it very difficult to access those regions. I would like any policy on tourism to try and address this question, because balanced regional development has been a priority in EU policy and I have always believed that this should also be linked to tourism policy. In that regard, I welcome the recent decision by Commissioner Barrot to introduce new guidelines laying down conditions under which start-up aid can be granted to airlines in regional airports."@en1
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