Three organisations involved in the international travel industry are considering establishing large-scale call centres in Cork, and at least one of these is expected to get the go-ahead within the next couple of months.

Industry sources said the call centres would probably initially involve between 200 and 300 people, with employment rising to between 400 and 500 after one or two years.

The travel organisations are currently testing the local market to see if sufficient staff with the required language skills are available in Cork or are willing to move to Cork. Staff with fluency in French and Italian are being targeted by one of the potential call centres, which will serve customers across Europe if it gets the go-ahead.

Meanwhile, Autotote, the American manufacturer of equipment for the gaming industry worldwide, is to set up a software development centre in Dublin. The centre will be used to support Autotote's expansion in the gaming and betting industry in Europe. The company already has a small software development centre in Ballymahon, Co Longford, which employs 10 people.