535 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of United States tourists who visited Ireland in 2001; the comparative figures for 2000 and 1999; if new markets have been targeted for the 2002 season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7962/02]

538 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the expected number of visitors in 2002; the countries of origin of such visitors; the countries which have been targeted for their potential to provide increased number of visitors here as a whole and for the north west region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8208/02]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 535 and 538 together.

CSO figures indicate that the total number of visitors from the USA and Canada during 2000 was 1,047,000, an increase of 11% on the 1999 figure of 943,000. The most recent CSO figures cover only the first nine months of 2001 and indicate that the number of visitors to Ireland from the USA and Canada in that period dropped by 9.8% on the same period in 2000 from 850,000 to 767,000. The comparable figure for 1999 was 776,000.

Official CSO statistics for the year 2001 as a whole will not be available for some months. However, Bord Fáilte estimates the number of overseas visitors to Ireland has declined by about 7% in 2001 to 5.8 million visitors. The board expects the number of visitors to Ireland from the USA and Canada for 2001 as a whole to come in at around 915,000.

There is little doubt but that 2002 will be a challenging year for Irish tourism. Tourism Ireland Limited is projecting a best case scenario for 2002 of a return to 2000 business levels, generally regarded as an excellent year for Irish tourism. This equates to an increase in the number of British visitors of 10%, growth of at least 6% in visitor numbers from mainland Europe and a minimisation of any further loss of traffic from North America. Following consultation with industry interests, Tourism Ireland Limited and Bord Fáilte have recently launched comprehensive marketing plans for 2002 designed to address the new market situation. Tourism Ireland's programme budget of €27 million for 2002 for the international marketing of the island of Ireland is the largest ever annual budget allocated for such a purpose and is supplemented by substantial niche-product marketing funding by Bord Fáilte, which was further enhanced by an additional allocation of €11 million to Bord Fáilte for this purpose in the recent budget.