The decline in Ireland’s ‘friendly’
B&Bs is a blow to tourism
The treatment of our B&Bs by controlling interests is a scandal,
says Felim O’Rourke
B&Bs, which played a major role in Irish tourism in recent years, have suffered a massive decline, losing a huge share of both the overseas and domestic markets.
B&Bs are small businesses, enterprises with no voice and no access to the corridors of power, and the decimation of the sector has passed almost unnoticed by media and policy-makers.
In 2001 B&Bs provided 6.3 million bed-nights for overseas holiday visitors. B&Bs held a 30 per cent market share of the accommodation market and provided more bed-nights than the hotel sector. Between 2001 and 2010, the number of bed-nights sold by the B&Bs to overseas holiday visitors fell to 2.6 million and the market share fell to 14 per cent.
In 2001 B&Bs provided 2.2 million bed-nights to domestic visitors. B&Bs held 9.6 per cent market share of the domestic visitor accommodation market but provided only 40 per cent of the bed-nights that were provided by hotels. Between 2001 and 2010 the number of bed-nights sold to domestic visitors fell to 717,000 and the market share fell to 2.3 per cent.
Effectively the B&B has ceased to be an accommodation option for domestic visitors. In 2010, of the 3.3 million bed-nights sold by the B&B sector only 22 per cent went to domestic visitors. We can summarise the situation by saying that 80 per cent of the bed-nights sold by B&Bs go to overseas visitors and only 20 per cent go to domestic visitors.
The decline of the B&B sector was gradual and steady over the decade, so the Department of Tourism, the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) and Failte Ireland must have been aware of what was happening.
The graph above shows the trend in B&B bed-nights over the decade. It shows a decline of 60 per cent in overseas bed-nights and 68 per cent in domestic bed-nights over the decade.
The only reasonable explanation for the lack of concern by the Department of Tourism is that the B&B operators were not considered important.
The ITIC styles itself as the representative body for the tourism industry and was a part of the disastrous Social Partnership process. The ITIC has not done enough, however, for the B&B sector
Failte Ireland could not draw attention to the decline in B&Bs because that would be an admission of failure.
The other reason that the B&Bs have lost market share is that successive Fianna Fail governments allowed the hotel sector to be dominated by property speculation while, in Bertie Ahern’s words, “the boom is getting boomier”. There was no role for B&Bs in a tourism industry which was dominated by property speculation.
The B&B sector could have been the basis for a new approach to Irish tourism. We
could have used the B&B sector to pioneer activity holidays, generate community support for tourism and evolve a network of high quality small family hotels which would have combined friendliness with better standards. Instead our policy-makers presided over the decimation of the sector.
The treatment of the humble B&B by the controlling interests in Irish tourism is a scandal. The loss of the B&B sector has been a disaster for Irish tourism.
Felim O’Rourke is an Economist who has written extensively on tourism. He was joint author, with Jerome Casey of the Dublin City Business Association, of the report ‘Rejuvenating Dublin’s Tourism Product’
JNRS (joint national research survey)
figures show 80% of adults regularly read a paper
Eighty per cent (80%) of adults are regular newspaper readers, a 2 per cent decline on the same period last year, according to the latest Joint National Readership Survey figures.
The JNRS’s 2011-12 report shows that 2.88 million adults here read a newspaper regularly between June 2011 and May 2012.
This compared with 2.94 million in the previous year, which represented 82 per cent of the population.
The Irish Times had an average daily readership of 287,000 in the 2011-12 report. This was down 37,000, or 11 per cent, on the previous year. These readership figures do not include visitors to the Irish Times website.
The Irish Independent recorded a decline in readership of 35,000 or 7 per cent to 465,000, while readership for the Irish Examiner remained the same at 169,000.
Among other daily newspapers, the Irish Daily Star recorded a readership of 348,000, down 24,000 or 6 per cent, while the Irish Mirror’s readership was up slightly by 1,000 to 208,000.
Two daily newspapers recorded more significant gains. The Irish Sun had a readership of 297,000, up 21,000 or 8 per cent, while the Irish Daily Mail recorded a readership of 159,000, up 18,000 or 13 per cent.
The Irish Times had an ABC1 profile – a key demographic for advertisers – of 80 per cent. This compared with 53 per cent at the Irish Independent and 42 per cent at the Irish Examiner.
While readership for the main section of The Irish Times was down, readership for the newspaper’s supplements remained broadly the same or grew slightly, such as the newspaper’s Saturday Magazine (367,000), Healthplus (273,000) and the Ticket (234,000).
Overall, just under half of adults – 49 per cent, or 1,774,000 people – read a daily title, according to JNRS figures.
A total of 59 per cent, or 2,118,000 people, read a Sunday title. This represented a decline of 8 per cent compared to the previous year, possibly due to the closure of the News of the World.
Overall, the National Newspapers of Ireland said the latest figures showed that newspaper readership remained strong, despite factors such as the recession and proliferation of other media.
“As an industry I would say we are encouraged but not surprised by the findings of the latest JNRS,” said NNI’s Frank Cullen said.
“Newspapers invest more in journalism than any other medium so it’s natural that more people come to us when they are looking for high quality, original news content.”
He added that readership among young people was impressive, with almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of 19- to 24-year-olds regularly reading a print title.
Mr Cullen said figures also showed people were dedicating more time to reading newspapers, with one in five readers spending more than six hours a week reading their papers.
Among the Sunday newspapers, most titles recorded a decline.
The Sunday Independent had a readership of 914,000, down 57,999 or 5.9 per cent, while the Sunday Times saw its readership decline by 33,000 or 8.2 per cent, to 367,000.
The Sunday Business Post’s readership fell by 2,000 to 162,000, while the Sunday World posted a small decline of 5,000, or less than 1 per cent, to 802,000.
The Irish Sunday Mirror recorded a significant readership increase of 13,000, or 8.9 per cent, to 195,000.
In addition, the Irish Mail on Sunday readership rose by 15,000 readers, up 5 per cent, to 345,000 readers.
Eating Grapes protects men’s heart health
Eating grapes may help protect the heart health of men with metabolic syndrome, according to a new study in the US.
Scientists have discovered that the fruit lowered several key risk factors for heart disease in men with metabolic syndrome. These benefits included reduced blood pressure, improved blood flow and reduced inflammation.
Natural components found in grapes, known as polyphenols, are thought to be responsible for these positive effects.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together – increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist or low HDL (the good cholesterol) and increased blood triglycerides – significantly increasing the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Metabolic syndrome is a major public health concern,
The researchers studied a group of men between 30 and 70 years of age with metabolic syndrome.
The study is believed to be the first to look at the impact of grapes on metabolic syndrome.
In this study, participants were randomly assigned to consume grapes, in the form of a freeze-dried whole grape powder, or a placebo powder, for four weeks.
Then, following a three-week “washout” period where neither grapes nor placebo were consumed, individuals were allocated to the alternate treatment. This powerful study design allowed investigators to compare the response of each individual to consumption of both the placebo and grapes.
The study results showed that for each of the study’s subjects, grape consumption resulted in significant decreases in blood pressure, improved blood flow (greater vasodilation), and decreases in a compound associated with inflammation.
“These results suggest that consuming grapes can improve important risk factors associated with heart disease, in a population that is already at higher risk,” said Dr Maria Luz Fernandez, who led the study, which was carried out at the Department of Nutritional Sciences of the University of Connecticut.
“This further supports the accumulating evidence that grapes can positively influence heart health, and extends it to men with metabolic syndrome.”
Scientists find master stem cells that drive human creativity
- Researcher find master cells also key for abstract thought and planning ahead
- Breakthrough could lead to new treatments for autism
A newly-discovered type of stem cell could be the key to higher thinking in humans, research suggests.
Scientists have identified a family of stem cells that may give birth to neurons responsible for abstract thought and creativity.
The cells were found in embryonic mice, where they formed the upper layers of the brain’s cerebral cortex.
Dr Santos Franco, a member of the US team from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, said: ‘Advanced functions like consciousness, thought and creativity require quite a lot of different neuronal cell types and a central question has been how all this diversity is produced in the cortex.
‘Our study shows this diversity already exists in the progenitor cells.’
In mammals, the cerebral cortex is built in onion-like layers of varying thickness.
The thinner inside layers host neurons that connect to the brain stem and spinal cord to regulate essential functions such as breathing and movement.
The larger upper layers, close to the brain’s outer surface, contain neurons that integrate information from the senses and connect across the two halves of the brain.
Higher thinking functions are seated in the upper layers, which in evolutionary terms are the “newest” parts of the brain.
The new research is reported today in the journal Science.
Growing the stem cells in the laboratory could pave the way to better treatments for brain disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.
NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Red Planet soil ‘what else is ahead’
After a spectacular landing on Mars, the rover Curiosity wasted no time embracing its inner shutterbug, delighting scientists with vistas of Gale Crater complete with sand dunes, mountain views and even haze.
What is next?
The nuclear-powered, six-wheel Curiosity is on a quest to learn whether the Martian environment could have been favorable for microbial life. Before it can drive, it has to slog through weeks of health checkups. Since it’s the most complex spacecraft ever sent to the red planet, engineers want to make sure it’s in tip-top shape before they hand over the keys to scientists. It already has done a cursory check of its 10 science tools, but more tests are needed. This weekend, its computers get a software update — a process that will last several days.
Will we see a movie of the touchdown?
The footage is recorded and stored on board Curiosity and will be downloaded as time allows. It sent back a low-quality video and several high-resolution frames that captured the last few minutes of the descent, providing a sense of a spacecraft landing on another planet. In the video, the protective heat shield pops off and tumbles away. It ends with billowing plumes of dust as Curiosity was safely delivered to the surface.
The first impressions of the Gale Crater?
The mission’s chief scientist John Grotzinger said it was like staring at California’s Mojave Desert. The landing site is pebbly with sand dunes nearby and mountains off in the distance. A curtain of haze hung over the site. Curiosity’s destination is Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-high mountain rising from the center of the crater floor near the equator. Observations from space reveal the base of the mountain shows signs of past water — a good place to hunt for the chemical ingredients of life.
Curiosity’s performance was pretty much on target with expectations. Because it weighed nearly 2,000 pounds, it had to be gently lowered to the surface — a routine NASA had never tried before. A preliminary reconstruction indicates it landed 1 1/2 miles downrange from the bull’s-eye.
How many rovers are now on Mars?
Curiosity joins the long-running Opportunity, which has been exploring craters in Mars’ southern hemisphere since 2004. Opportunity’s twin, Spirit, fell silent in 2010 after getting stuck in a sand trap. Curiosity’s prime mission lasts two years.
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