Hotels and guesthouses have lost £47 million because of the foot-and-mouth crisis, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has estimated, Declan Fahy reports.
It also says less than £5 million of this lost business will be "rescheduled", so "a concentrated effort must now be made by all Irish tourism interests to promote Ireland abroad", said Mr Paul Gallagher, IHF's Dublin branch chairman.
He said 1,300 conferences and events had been cancelled in Dublin in the last month. The IHF's Dublin branch is organising a marketing campaign for potential British visitors, including a trip to Dublin for British journalists.
Mr Gallagher welcomed Bord Failte's marketing initiative, which will stress that Ireland "continues to be a premier holiday destination".