To ask the Minister for the Economy for his assessment of the importance of travel agencies in growing and maintaining an air route network to Northern Ireland.

As Economy Minister, I am responsible for maintaining and enhancing NI’s air connectivity, both domestically and internationally. Inbound tourism and Foreign Direct Investment are absolutely vital to NI and both depend on NI’s air connectivity.

There is no available statistical data to determine the contribution that business and travel, generated through local travel agencies, makes to maintaining key routes to Northern Ireland. However, it is widely accepted that the travel agency business model in Northern Ireland is based on marketing and selling travel packages and services to destinations throughout the world.