Tourism Ireland has a new way to get us out of debt: tempt wealthy tourists to come spend money on our shores

Now why didn’t we think of this before? If we want to get out of debt, cutting wages and introducing more taxes won’t help us.

What we should be doing is enticing high-spending tourists from Brazil and Russia to our shores and hope that they blow obscene amounts of money while they’re here. Sounds like a legit plan, right?

The Irish Times reports that Tourism Ireland has developed a special strategy to attract these wealthy Brazilians and Russians to our little Island. The move coincides with the Government’s decision to develop a special marketing campaign in new overseas markets.

But why are we targeting Russians and Brazilians? According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, spending by tourists from these two countries has increased by a fifth and a third respectively over the past year.  This means that if we lure them in, we could get some of that sweet, sweet moolah all to ourselves. Score.

We’re expecting a lot of Russian tourists over the next few months thanks to a visa-waiver scheme last year, which makes it much easier for Russians to visit Ireland now.

Niall Gibbons, the chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said that there were niche opportunities in Russia and Brazil where the potential was small in volume but high in value because of the type of tourists these countries produce (example: they spend. Lots.)

The Minister for Tourism, Leo Varadkar, has also confirmed that €5million will be spent on “The Gathering 2013” – a year-long programme of festivals, events and gatherings across Ireland in 2013 that will be aimed at attracting foreign visitors.

So basically, this is the Government’s polite (and legal) way of grabbing tourists by the ankles and shaking them until money falls out.

You have to admit, it’s a good plan to bring in some extra money. Although if we really want to escape this recession, shouldn’t we be targeting kings and oil tycoons instead?