TOURISM FIGURES SEE FIRST DROP SINCE 2002 - Figures just published by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation show a 3% drop in overseas visitors to Ireland during 2008. That is the first decline in the figure since 2002 and represents a loss of €200m overall in revenue to the industry.
The Confederation's CEO Eamonn McKeon says that the tourism industry is seeking a stimulus package from the Government in order to sustain the long-term health of the sector. It wants the Government to consider a temporary cut in VAT for one year, which would quickly boost consumer related tax revenues, and also employment in the tourism and retail sector. Mr McKeon also says that the ITIC is not backing the proposed takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair, saying it would not be good for competition and would not be conducive to medium or long-term access affordability.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Passengers flying with no-frills airlines pay almost half as much for food and drink as they do for the flight, Which? Holiday magazine said today. A sandwich, a small tub of Pringles, a bottle of sparkling water, a cup of coffee and a small bottle of red wine can add as much as £16.05 sterling to the price of a single ticket, the magazine said. That was the price of the items on Ryanair, that Which? Holiday said was the most expensive for food and drink.
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Big US manufacturers are continuing to announce savage cost-cutting and job-shedding plans. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of heavy construction and mining equipment, is asking senior executives to take a 50% pay cut and is also looking for 25,000 redundancies. Textron, the world's largest maker of corporate jets, says it is eliminating 2,200 jobs worldwide to deal with the global downturn. A recent survey of companies in the US showed that 11% of them expected to be imposing pay cuts on staff in the next 12 months.
*** Employment at companies supported by Enterprise Ireland fell by just over 8,000 this year, according to the state agency's end of year statement. The construction and construction-linked sectors accounted for 65% of the job losses, while sectors such as software and medical devices added the most jobs.
*** The number of people unemployed throughout the world could rise by up to 25 million by 2010 because of the global financial and economic crisis, according to the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Angel Gurria.
*** New figures show that the number of new cars licensed here in November plunged by almost 60% compared with the same month last year. The Central Statistics Office said 1,174 new cars were licensed in November, compared with 2,857 a year earlier. 52% of these were diesel-powered.
*** Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has taken issue with Aer Lingus' defensive document published yesterday, and has claimed that the airline would report 'substantial net losses' this year rather than a profit. He accused Aer Lingus of misleading shareholders.
*** There is no trading in Tokyo today because it is Emperor Akihito's 75th birthday. In his traditional speech to hundreds of well-wishers outside the royal palace, he expressed concern for those hit by the global financial crisis
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at just under $1.40, and at 94.3 pence sterling.
