Joint Communiqué- Tourism Sectoral Format

1. The seventh North South Ministerial Council meeting in Tourism Sectoral format was held in Enniskillen on Thursday 29 May 2008.
2. The Northern Ireland Executive was represented by Nigel Dodds, MP, MLA, Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and Michelle Gildernew, MP, MLA, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Irish Government was represented by Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
3. Ministers welcomed the appointment of the new Board of Tourism Ireland including the Chair, Mr. Hugh Friel. Ministers considered a report from Mr. Friel on the work of the Tourism Ireland Board since the lastNSMC meeting in November 2007. Ministers noted the issues raised at the three Board meetings held in the interim and the views of the Board on the key components of competitiveness.
4. The Council received an update from Tourism Ireland’s Chief Executive, Paul O’Toole, on progress in implementing the Tourism Ireland 2008 Business Plan. Council noted progress to date in implementing the Plan and the analysis of the Visitor and Revenue Targets, including the more challenging trading environment arising from increased economic uncertainty in some key overseas markets.
5. The Council considered a paper detailing the increased staffing requirement to facilitate the opening of a regional hub to manage the New and Developing Markets such as China and India. The Council noted the increasing importance of New and Developing Markets for the future growth of overseas visitors to the island of Ireland and welcomed Tourism Ireland’s proposals to open a New and Developing Markets Hub Office which will enable the Company to operate more effectively against increasing global competition. The Council approved an increase in Tourism Ireland’s staffing complement by 4 to enable the Company to recruit the staff for the proposed New and Developing Markets Hub.
6. Council considered a paper on Tourism statistics which summarised the core requirements for tourism statistics, identified actual or potential gaps in key statistics and identified areas where pragmatic cross-border cooperation might play a useful and effective role in filling such gaps. Ministers noted the paper presented and requested their officials to engage with the relevant agencies on the areas identified in the paper with a view to reporting to the next appropriate NSMC meeting.
7. The Council agreed to meet again in Tourism Sectoral format in November 2008.

Joint Secretariat

May 2008