This article is from page 4 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
BUSINESS leaders in the Mid West have called for a multi-million tourism campaign which would last a minimum of seven years and promote Shannon Airport in North America.
They say that for the airport to meet the challenges of the new Open Skies deal, it must be left debt-free, be properly resourced and given a first class infrastructure.
The demands are contained in a report on the impact of Open Skies, launched yesterday.
The document is the result of a survey of companies in Limerick and Clare carried out by IBEC and the Chambers of Commerce in Ennis and Shannon.
Entitled ‘Embracing The Challenges and Opportunities of Open Skies’, the report calls for:
*Shannon International Airport to become a fully resourced, debt-free and independent entity.
* Adequate financing and cost competitiveness, so as to provide a full range of supports for airlines to develop new scheduled transatlantic services on a year-round basis.
* Accelerated Infrastructure delivery so that Shannon’s catchment is expanded significantly, creating a vibrant market demand for transatlantic services and ensuring it can compete with Dublin.
*A major multi-million annual tourism campaign in North America to be undertaken for a minimum 7-year period, which promotes Shannon’s transatlantic services as the gateway to the greater West of Ireland region, commencing in Autumn 2006.
A total of 123 companies, employing 19,756 people in 2005, responded to the survey. Total turnover of respondents amounted to €6.12 billion in the same year.
Of the 123 respondent companies, thirty were US and 3 Canadian multinationals.
The report also found that a serious reduction in connectivity could impact over the medium to longerterm on future investment plans of individual companies with knock on implications for employment in the West of Ireland.
IBEC’s mid-west Business Development Executive, Donncha Hughes, briefed an audience in the Shannon Shamrock Hotel in Bunratty at the launch of the report last night.
“Shannon International Airport is a major driver of economic growth firstly in attracting companies to the region and secondly in providing cost effective international access for companies located in the catchment area,” he said.
“To illustrate the importance of Shannon International Airport, 85 – almost 70 per cent – of respondents indicated that they agreed that ‘the current level of access and connectivity from Shannon Airport to the US and Canada is vital for the company’s continued competitiveness’