The Northern Ireland tourist industry needs “all the help it can get” to remain competitive, according to NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews. Johnny made his comments after the latest Consumer Price Index showed that prices for restaurants, hotels and transport have increased substantially, over the past number of years.
“Since 2007, prices in the hospitality industry have gone up by 21% and transport costs have risen by 24% in Northern Ireland. By contrast, the Republic of Ireland figures are 0.5% for hotels and restaurants and 5.3% for transport”, Johnny explained. “The problems facing our tourist industry are clearly obvious therefore, when you consider that Belfast, for instance, is competing against Dublin, to attract visitors for city breaks and our airports are competing against Dublin Airport to bring people to this island.”
“Our hospitality industry needs all the help it can get from the Executive. NI Conservatives believe that ministers should be campaigning for powers to cut Air Passenger Duty and indicating that they would use those powers as soon as they were granted. Currently it is substantially more expensive for people to fly into Belfast rather than Dublin. Equally, Northern Ireland’s antiquated employment laws are proving a major headache for hotels and restaurants and they should be brought into line with the rest of the UK as quickly as possible.”
“Tourism can be key to Northern Ireland’s economy and the industry cannot be expected to operate with one hand tied behind its back. The Executive needs to take action on issues like these immediately, as well as showing it is determined to promote our tourism product properly, by supporting Tourism Northern Ireland. Otherwise, our competitors will continue to attract visitors who should be destined for Northern Ireland.”