The Junior Transport Minister says more work needs to be done to promote Cork and Shannon Airports to tourists travelling to Ireland
It comes as Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has dismissed the Minister's proposal to locate more planes in Cork in the wake of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport
He says 60% of the traffic is inbound and doesn't want to go to Cork and Shannon
However Minister Lawless says many tourists are flying into Dublin and getting buses to Cork to holiday in the region
"You have a minuscule fraction of those numbers going to Shannon, going to Cork. A significant number of tourists that travel to Ireland end up getting on buses and travel down to see the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry, The Blarney Stone, etc.. They're flying to Dublin because Dublin is a known destination. if you're living abroad, you don't necessarily know there's other locations, that's a marketing aspect. That's something that we need to tackle."
