It is a concern that the Irish hotel sector is strongly dependent on domestic visitors, Fáilte Ireland said today.
Reviewing the performance of the tourism sector last year Fáilte Ireland said a record number of overseas visitors - 7.4 million - had come to Ireland, an increase of 9 per cent on the number of visitors in 2005.
Overall revenues from tourism increased last year to €5.9 billion and the sector now employs 249,000 people.
However, Gillian Bowler, chairman of Fáilte Ireland, said a heavy reliance in some tourism sectors on visitors from within the State "is a cause for concern".
"Despite the rise in international visitors last year, there is a continuing high dependence on the Ireland holiday market, now accounting for 60 per cent of hotel bednights. As in any business, any over-reliance on one market is of concern," she said.
Looking to next year, there appears to be cautious optimism in the guesthouse and hostel sectors with 49 per cent and 56 per cent respectively, expecting business to growth next year.
Ms Bowler said the distribution of tourism "improved somewhat" last year with the west, soutwest and Shannon regions recording higher levels of growth than Dublin and the Eastern regions.
She called for more investment by the public and private sectors and "said a favourable tax regime has been of major advantage in securing the modernisation of our accommodation sector".
The long-term the goal of Fáilte Ireland is to grow international tourist visits to 10 million annually.
Ms Bowler also identified the Ryder Cup coming to Ireland as a high point of a very successful year for the golfing sector.