‘confronting challenges and seizing opportunities in irish ... · 8.09.2018 · ‘confronting...

‘Confronting Challenges and Seizing Opportunities in Irish Tourism: The Role of the Public and Private Sector’

8th

17th - 18th November 2017, Dromoland Castle

‘Confronting Challenges and Seizing

Opportunities in Irish Tourism: The Role of

the Public and Private Sector’

The challenges for the Irish economy and society occasioned by Brexit,

geopolitical turbulence and technological disruptions are already at play

and are likely to have even more profound effects in the years ahead.

Resultantly, the Tourism Sector must respond through serious analysis and

identification of the “Strategic” responses required and how same should be

funded. The workshop aims to facilitate such engagement by all who value

the role that tourism plays in the Irish economy and society. This workshop

is an initiative of Professor Jim Deegan, Director of The National Centre for

Tourism Policy Studies, University of Limerick. For further details visit:

www.tourismpolicyworkshop.wordpress.com

http://www.tourismpolicyworkshop.wordpress.com


Tourism Policy Workshop Programme

Friday 17th November

16:00 Registration at Dromoland Castle

17:00 Welcome Address

Session 1: Tourism In The Macro-economy

17:05 “Opportunities and Challenges for Tourism in An Era of Full Employment”

Prof. Alan Ahearne, National University of Ireland Galway

17:40 “By The Numbers: Powering Up Tourism With Facts and Figures”

Daniel Gschwind, Queensland Tourism Industry Council

18:20 Questions & Answers

09:10 “From Lizard to Wizard: Opportunities and ‘Watchouts’ That Current and Future Trends Present For The Development of Tourism in Ireland”

Jan Richards, Dublin Airport Authority

Session 2: The Vital Role Of Aviation For Tourism

18:30 “How the Island Economy of Ireland is Transformed by Aviation”

Joe Gill, Goodbody Stockbrokers

19:00 Tore Jenssen, Norwegian Air International

19:25 Diarmuid O Conghaile, Ryanair


20:00 Dinner in The Earl of Thomond Dining Room, Dromoland Castle

Saturday 18th November

Session 3: Tourism Policy In An Era Of Disruption


09:45 “The Time is Right to Envision A New Tourism Policy For Ireland: Some Issues For Consideration”

Prof. Jim Deegan, Director of the National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies, University of Limerick

10:20 “A Tax Strategy To Grow Irish Tourism”

Cora O’Brien, Irish Tax Institute


11:10 Coffee

11:30 “Be Careful What You Wish For: When Tourism Growth Exceeds Capacity”

Katherine Webster, Kittiwake Solutions

12:05 “Management V Marketing - Our Destinations As Assets”

Salli Felton, The Travel Foundation


13:00 Lunch

Session 4: Responding To Tourism Impacts

Session 5: A Focus on Visitor Attractions and Experiences

17:00 “ The Association Of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AVEA)”

John Ruddle, Shannon Group and AVEA

17:20 “Investing in The Visitor Experience: Attractions and The Potential Of Dark Tourism”

Prof. John Lennon, Caledonian University



18:00 Michael Lee, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

“Report on ISIF investments in Ireland”

18:20 “Magic Can Happen when All Public/Private Plans Prioritise the Tourism Experience”

Aileesh Carew, EPIC

18:40 “Public Private Partnerships For Tourism Development in Limerick: Progress and Issues”

Dr Pat Daly, Limerick City and County Council


Session 6: The Public Private Potential For Tourism Development

Session 7: Brexit & The Future Development of Tourism In Ireland

19:05 Maria Melia, Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, ITIC

Tim Fenn, IHF

19:40 Pat Breen TD, Minister For Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection

20:00 Dinner in The Earl of Thomond Dining Room, Dromoland Castle

End of Workshop


Speaker Profiles 2017 Prof. Alan Ahearne is a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Ireland. He is also

Director of the Whitaker Institute and Professor of Economics at the National University of

Ireland, Galway. He is Chairman of the ESRI and Department of Finance Joint Research

Programme on the Macro-economy and Taxation. He has served as adviser to the IMF, as

research fellow at Bruegel, and as economic adviser to Ireland’s former Minister for

Finance Brian Lenihan. Before joining NUI Galway, he was Senior Economist at the Federal

Reserve Board in Washington, DC. He has taught economics at Carnegie Mellon

University, the University of Virginia, University College Dublin, Dublin City University and

the University of Limerick. Alan began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand and

also worked for Bank of Ireland Group Treasury. His areas of expertise are

macroeconomics and international finance and his research has been published in leading

international journals. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Daniel Gschwind is the Chief Executive for the Queensland Tourism Industry Council

(QTIC). QTIC is Queensland’s peak tourism industry body with more than 3,000 members

throughout the state, including 13 regional tourism organisations and 15 sector

associations. Daniel represents QTIC on various committees and advisory boards including

the national Tourism Research Advisory Board, University of Queensland Industry Advisory

Board (Business School), the Griffith Institute for Tourism Advisory Board, the Bond

University Regional Advisory Board, the GBRMPA Tourism Reef Advisory Committee (TRAC)

and the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC). He is a board member of Jobs

Queensland, a statutory authority, and is the deputy chair of the Australian Tourism

Industry Council (ATIC) and the chair of Australian Tourism Awards. Daniel is an Adjunct

Professor at the University of Queensland Business School. He is the Honorary Consul of

Switzerland for Queensland. Daniel holds an honours degree in economics from the

University of Queensland and has worked as a senior economist with Queensland Treasury.

He is a Vice Patron of Surf Life Saving Queensland, an Ambassador for the Queensland

Museum Foundation, an Ambassador for the 30-Year Queensland Plan and an Ambassador

for the World Tourism Forum. Daniel is also on the Inspiring Australia – Queensland

program reference group. He has previously been involved in yacht charter operations in

the Mediterranean and the Caribbean for ten years.

Joe Gill is director of corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers where he advises a

range of companies including airlines. In 2015 he advised IAG on its acquisition of Aer

Lingus. He previously worked as an award winning aviation analyst in London and Dublin. In

2006 he was lead analyst on the IPO of Aer Lingus on the Irish Stock Exchange. He has also

worked with Ryanair and is a consulting editor with aviationfinance.aero, a specialist on line

publication focussed on the aircraft leasing industry. Joe is an Economics graduate from

University College Cork.

Tore Jenssen (born 1978) is Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Air International, the

company's Irish-based operations. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian's fully

owned asset company, Arctic Aviation Assets (AAA). He has been at Norwegian since 2007,

when he was hired as cost controller for the company's technical department. From 2010

Mr. Jenssen worked as Asset Manager, and in 2013 he moved to Ireland to become Chief

Operating Officer for AAA. Before he started his career at Norwegian he worked for Grilstad.

Mr Jenssen has a business degree from Bodø Graduate School of Business.


Prof. Jim Deegan is an Economist and Professor of Tourism Policy at the Kemmy

Business School, University of Limerick. Jim is also Director of the National Centre for

Tourism Policy Studies which is Ireland’s leading research centre in all facets of tourism

policy. Over the last 20 years he has contributed research papers on many facets of Irish

tourism policy and has undertaken research reports for many national and international

agencies. Jim is a member of the editorial board of Tourism Economics and regularly acts

as an academic referee for the major journals in tourism. Jim completed an extended 5

year term as the Head of Department of Economics at the University of Limerick in 2016

and has just completed a 4 year appointment to the board of Fáilte Ireland. In November

he will launch a new expenditure app to measure tourist spending that he has developed

with Dr Martin Hayes, University of Limerick.

Diarmuid Ó Conghaile is Director of Public Affairs with Ryanair. His previous role was

with daa as General Manager of Strategy and Economic Regulation at Dublin Airport.

His background is in utility regulation and strategy (daa, An Post), economics (Trinity

College Dublin) and competition law (King’s College London). He has also worked in a

number of policy/governmental roles, including with the National Competitiveness

Council, the National Economic and Social Forum, Irish Government departments, and

the European Commission. Diarmuid is from Malahide, Co. Dublin, where he lives with

his wife and two children.

Jan Richards is Head of Insights & Planning Dublin Airport. Passenger growth at Dublin

Airport 2015-2017 has increased by over three times the European average, and every

month currently is the busiest on record. Jan is responsible for managing the significant

Dublin Airport Insights & Research programme, including monitoring future customer and

passenger trends, passenger tracking, continuous CX improvement research feedback, and

developing brand positioning strategy & measurement. She is proud of her contribution to

Dublin Airport’s continuous improvement programme that since 2006 has resulted in the

airport moving from bottom 3 to top 3 performers within its category in the Airports

Council International Customer Satisfaction Index. Jan speaks regularly at international

innovation and CX conferences in London and abroad and has significant tourism

experience having worked in brand, communication and segmentation development with

Bord Failte and Tourism Ireland since 1996. Jan worked in advertising in London, Budapest

and Dublin for 16 years; she was Client Director of DDB Budapest and Planning Director of

Owens DDB in Dublin, and lectured in Marketing and Communications.

Cora O’Brien is Tax Policy Director with the Irish Tax Institute. She leads the Institute’s work

on tax policy and administration and is a Chartered Tax Adviser and Chartered Accountant.

Cora has worked with Irish and international policymakers on a range of tax policy issues

including tax supports for exporters and entrepreneurs, the personal tax burden, the

development of Ireland’s International Tax Strategy, the OECD Base Erosion and Profit

Shifting (BEPS) project, the EU tax agenda and the implications of US tax reform. Cora is joint

editor of Irish Tax Policy in Perspective, she developed the Institute’s Certificate in Tax

Policy-Making and has spoken and written widely on tax issues in Ireland and internationally.


Salli Felton is Chief Executive Officer of The Travel Foundation. With a background in

environmental science, Salli has spent the last 20 years of her career working with the private

and public sectors to help them recognise and address the social and environ-mental impacts

of their activities, creating stronger, more resilient and more sustainable models of operation.

After relocating from her native Australia to the UK, she headed up environmental projects

and assessment at one of Europe’s busiest airports, Heathrow, before joining Virgin Holidays

as its Responsible Business Manager, overseeing the tour operator’s CSR strategies and

programmes. In 2011 Salli joined the Travel Foundation - an independent charity that works

with tourism businesses and destination stakeholders to create partnerships that ‘unlock the

positive potential of tourism’ and was appointed CEO in 2014.

Katherine Webster was Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Ireland’s

most visited natural attraction up to September 2017, a position which she held since the

construction stage of the project in 2005. Katherine is currently setting up her own

consultancy business, Kittiwake Solutions, specialising in providing best practice in visitor

attraction development, visitor management and delivery of a world class visitor

experience. With over 20 years management experience Katherine led the Cliffs of Moher

team of up to 99 in growing the business to over 1.4million visitors in 2016 and tripling

turnover. She has sat on the steering groups of the Failte Ireland Wild Atlantic Way Visitor

Experience Development Plan, the Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Geopark and held

board positions in Burren Ecotourism Network CLG, Skills ACIST Ltd. and Embury Close

Sheltered Housing Co. Ltd. Before returning home to Ireland to take up the Cliffs of Moher

position she spent a number of years in leadership roles in travel & technology across

Europe. With Kittiwake Solutions she intends to put her extensive hands-on experience to

use in helping visitor attractions to address the practical challenges of visitor management

in direct and tangible ways.

John Ruddle is Director of New Business Development at Shannon Heritage part of Shannon

Group Plc having previously headed up the company as CEO for 15 years (2002-2017). Before

that he was Financial Controller and Deputy Director of the National Trust in Norther Ireland

for seven years (1995-2002). John is a Chartered Accountant and has also held senior

positions as Group Financial Controller and Business Development with Rotary Group

International (1991-1995). He was a qualified Accountant with PriceWaterhouse Coopers,

Belfast from 1987-1991. He is an economics graduate of Queens University Belfast. His

current focus is on developing the Shannon Heritage business to new Heritage attractions in

Ireland. He is a Director of the new visitor attractions association AVEA.


Prof. John J. Lennon is Director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism

Business Development. The Moffat Centre is responsible for the production of

international consumer & market research in the tourism, travel, events & hospitality

industries. In 1996, John created the term ‘dark tourism’ to describe the attraction of

visitors to sites of death, mass killing, genocide, incarceration & crime; literally the

darkest periods of human history. Since then the term has rarely been out of news

media & John has been featured in publications ranging from: USA Today (the world’s

largest English language newspaper), the Times, Newsweek, the New Yorker to major

coverage on global TV, on-line media, news & radio. The income the Moffat Centre

generates funds scholarships for students wishing to study Travel & Tourism (for details

see www.moffatcentre.com). Since 1999 over £1,000,000 worth of scholarships have

been awarded to students. In the commercial sector of travel & tourism John has

undertaken over 550 tourism & travel projects in over 40 nations on behalf of private

sector & public sector clients. He undertakes research & commercial work in the fields

of tourism development, destination marketing & financial feasibility of tourism

projects most notably visitor attractions & activity centres.

Aileesh Carew is Director of Sales and Marketing at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

– located in Dublin, dedicated to the story of the Irish and their extraordinary influence

on the World. EPIC was recently recognised as one of the country’s leading museums by

global travel site TripAdvisor during their 2017 Traveller’s Choice Awards. EPIC is the only

new entrant to rank among the top five museums nationally, a remarkable feat for the

young institution. It also ranks among Dublin’s top ten things to do and has consistently

maintained a five star rating on the site. Aileesh is also a partner of Real Experience,

specialising in mystery shopping and customer service training. She has spent much of

her career opening and managing hotels, most recently she launched the multi award

winning Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois, putting it on the map as one of the best hotels in

the World. She is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management, with a MBA from

Copenhagen Business School and Business Management Coaching from Scandinavian

Leadership.

Michael Lee is the Deputy Director and Head of Investment Origination &

Co-Investment Partnerships with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (formerly the

National Pensions Reserve Fund). The fund is currently €8bn in size. Michael is

responsible for combining investment origination and strategy with co-investor

development, and therefore is particularly focused on developing and structuring

transactions for which co-investment can be identified and executed. Previously Michael

worked for 17 years at Goldman Sachs, mainly in New York and also spending some time

in Sydney, Australia, where he was the Head of Financial Sponsor Coverage. His most

recent role at Goldman Sachs was as Head of Investment Idea Generation (Financial

Sponsors / Private Equity) in the Investment Banking Division in New York. Michael is a

Chartered Accountant (ex PwC) and has a Master of Business Studies (Finance) degree

and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin.


Dr Pat Daly is Deputy CEO & Director of Economic Development for Limerick City &

County Council. Pat has over 25 years of innovation and business development

experience across a range of sectors. He is the founding CEO of Innovate Limerick which

has recently led & delivered major new projects such as Troy International Film Studios

( Ireland’s newest and largest film studio campus), the new Digital Skills Academy,

Limerick Innovation Hub and Rathkeale Enterprise Centre. Pat also acted as interim CEO

of Limerick 2030 Dac which is rolling-out a €500m development programme to deliver c.

1.4M sq.ft., of enterprise space across seven strategic sites in Limerick. The Economic

Division which he leads has recently been awarded a number of prestigious national

awards for Innovation and Economic Development. Pat is an industrial Engineer by

profession, holds a Masters Degree in Management from Sheffield University and a PhD

in Management & Marketing from University College Cork, Ireland. He has held a

number of senior management positions in his career to date. He is also a director of a

number of public/private organisations.

Maria Melia is Principal Officer in the Tourism Marketing, Policy & Impact Assessment

division of the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport. Maria is responsible for

overseeing the implementation of the objectives contained in the Government’s Tourism

Policy Statement – People Place & Policy - Growing Tourism to 2025 & the Tourism Action

Plan 2016 – 2018 and the implementation of wider Government policy as it impacts on

tourism. Her unit is also responsible for the development & implementation of the policy

framework for overseas tourism marketing & sponsor departmental oversight & liaison with

Tourism Ireland. Maria is convenor of the Brexit Tourism Working Group & participates at

official level on other departmental & interdepartmental Brexit fora. Before joining the

department in 2016, Maria worked in the local government sector as a director of service &

she served 16 years as a Chief Fire Officer.

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh has had a varied career in tourism having previously managed;

O’Mara Travel Ltd, a leading tour operator; Heritage Island Ltd, a marketing company for

visitor attractions; & O’Mara Consultancy Ltd, a tourism consultancy business. In his earlier

career he was Procurement Executive with Diageo in London & Dublin. Eoghan has been

Chief Executive of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) since September 2015.

The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) is the umbrella group representing the lead-

ing tourism interests throughout the country including airlines, ferry companies, the hotels

federation, tour operators, B&Bs, & visitor attractions. See www.itic.ie


Olivia O’Leary has presented television and radio programmes over the last three

decades for RTE, the BBC and ITV, and has been a political writer for the Irish Times and

the Sunday Tribune. She also presented the “Between Ourselves” discussion programme

for BBC Radio 4. Two collections of her political columns for RTE Radio 1’s ‘Drivetime’

programme have been published by O’Brien Press. Olivia will act as Workshop Chair for

the 8th Annual Tourism Policy Workshop 2017.

PAT BREEN TD, Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single

Market and Data Protection. Minister Breen was appointed Minister for Trade,

Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection on 20th June, 2017

having previously served as Minister for Employment and Small Business since the 19th

May 2016. The Minister was first elected to Dail Eireann in 2002 and he has successfully

retained his seat in each subsequent Election, in 2007, 2011 and 2016. In the last Dail,

Minister Breen served as Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs

and Trade from 22nd June 2011 to 3rd February 2016. The Minister has also served as

Chairman of the Dail Sub-Committee on Overseas development 2010-2011.

Tim Fenn is Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), the national

repre-sentative organisation for hotels & guesthouses in Ireland. He joined the IHF in

July 2010 having had over 25 years of experience in senior executive & consulting roles

in the private sector. A native of Cork, he previously held the positions of Chief Executive

& Finance Director of FM104. Prior to this, Tim was Corporate Finance Manager with

RSM Farrell Grant Sparks, a leading financial & business advisory firm. He spent part of

his early career in the tourism industry, working in the family hotel business. In his

current role, Tim leads the IHF national lobbying & public affairs programmes, its legal &

regulatory affairs, & member services - including the promotion of best practice &

innovation across all aspects of hotel business operations. Tim is a member of the Advi-

sory Group on Small Business, the Business Tourism Working Group & the Marketing

Partnership Group for Great Britain. He is the tourism industry representative on the

National Water Forum and chairs the National Commis Chef Consortium Steering Group.


1 year Full-Time or 2 years Part-Time

What is the course about?

The MA programme equips you with the relevant competencies in tourism marketing

and management, economic evaluation and project appraisal, tourism planning and

policy analysis and important research skills.

Delivery

Full-Time Option: One-year, full-time programme, which takes place over two se-

mesters, plus a further period of four months for completion of a dissertation.

Part-Time Option: Part-time students are expected to complete the programme

over a two-year period. Lectures are delivered on one day per week between the hours

of 09:00-18:00, in all semesters.

Why should you consider the MA in International Tourism?

For the fifth year running, the programme is ranked in Eduniversal’s top 100 ‘Best

Masters’ world-wide (in the field of study, Tourism and Hospitality Management). In

December 2016, the MA was ranked #62. The global ranking is across 30 disciplines

in 154 countries.

A vital component of the programme comes through its emphasis on senior industry

guest speakers, international academic lecturers and off-site field-trips. The MA of-

fers an International field-trip, all students of the programme are expected to partici-

pate. Students have visited Cuba in recent years.

Further details are available, as follows:

http://www.ul.ie/business/content/ma-international-tourism-full-time

http://www.ul.ie/business/content/ma-international-tourism-full-time

‘confronting challenges and seizing opportunities in irish ... · 8.09.2018 · ‘confronting...

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