Under fire: Stephen Farry and Arlene Foster.
Tourism Minister, Arlene Foster and Finance Minister Simon Hamilton have been accused of not taking the sector seriously.
Derry Sinn Fein MLA Maeve McLaughlin said while the hosting of events such as Giro d’Italia was to be welcomed, she believed both Ministers were not capitalising on the potential presented by the worldwide exposure such occasions provided.
Ms McLaughlin added: “The Ministers needs to redouble their efforts to have Airport Passenger Duty (APD) transferred to the Executive.
“We have the ludicrous situation where we have APD on all flights out of the North with the exception of New York just down the road in Dublin travellers don’t have this added expense.
“Ministers need to stop the prevarication and insist that APD which would present minimal cost with substantial return to the tourism industry be transferred sooner rather than later.”
Ms McLaughlin concluded: “I have no doubt that it could also be a deciding factor in ongoing efforts to attract other carriers and access more routes.”
