One in five people believe tourism is putting too much pressure on local area

Seán McCárthaigh

One in five people living in Ireland believe tourism is placing too much pressure on their local area with many citing problems with litter, parking and traffic congestion due to the number of both domestic and foreign visitors.

Research carried out by Fáilte Ireland found that 20 per cent agreed that tourists put too much pressure on their county, while 71 per cent said they had experienced some negative impacts from tourism activity in the area where they live.

However, the survey of over 2,600 adults in the Republic also reported that 79 per cent believed enough action was being taken to address any issues linked to tourists.

It also showed that public sentiment towards both overseas and domestic tourism was very positive with people recognising the value which tourism brings to their communities.

Overall, nine out of 10 adults agreed that tourism was good for their county.

At the same time, the survey found that 28 per cent of respondents claimed there was more litter and waste generated as a result of tourists in their area, while 27 per cent reported experiencing greater difficulty in finding car park spaces because of visitors to their locality.

In addition, 26 per cent said they found they had longer journey times to get to places due to traffic and congestion which they associated with the number of tourists visiting their area.

The survey, which was carried out last year, was designed to ascertain the views of the public on tourism as part of Fáilte Ireland’s plans to promote sustainable tourism development across the country.

Commenting on the findings, Fáilte Ireland said: “While tourism activity may have some negative impacts on locals, it is widely acknowledged that those issues are being addressed.”

The national tourism development authority said the perceived value of tourism for local communities and the it gets from local people is “crucial” to the successful development of sustainable tourism destinations.

The survey found 88% of people said they had personally benefitted from tourism activity.

Almost half of all respondents said that tourism created employment opportunities and had allowed local businesses to set up and/or stay open.

Approximately four out of 10 adults also claimed tourism created opportunities to learn more about different cultures.

Fáilte Ireland welcomed other findings which showed that 77 per cent of Irish residents had interactions with tourists over the previous 12 months.

The figure rose to 86 per cent in the west of Ireland and 81 per cent in the south-west but was as low as 66 per cent in the Midlands.

Fáilte Ireland claimed the authenticity of an Irish welcome was as equally important as creating sustainable tourism.

Respondents stated interaction with tourists most commonly took the form of giving directions, recommendations on where to visit, eat or stay and general greetings.

In addition, 11 per cent of Irish people said they had offered to provide assistance to tourists that had taken them out of their way.

Asked what they would like the tourism industry to focus on, 34 per cent cited the creation of more local employment with 33 per cent seeking improvements to infrastructure.

A quarter of those surveyed also called for more off-peak season tourism.