Plans to centralise tourism promotion could further damage regional tourism, the Labour Party claimed today.
The Irish Timestoday reported that Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue is ready to implement the recommendations of a report examining the decline in tourists numbers outside Dublin.
The report recommends that the marketing and administrative functions of regional bodies be centralised with Fáilte Ireland. Some of the 68 tourist information offices around the State may be scaled down or even closed as a result, the article says.
Labour's spokesperson on tourism Jack Wall said: "Rather than combating the current serious problems in tourism, there was a danger that the government proposals could worsen the situation.
"It is difficult to understand how an official in an office in Dublin is in a better position to promote tourism in Cork or Galway or Kerry than somebody active in the industry on the ground in these regions."
He said the plan was at odds with the Government's broader decentralisation policy and that tourism structures were not the central problem. The near "crisis" in the economy end of the market, in particular, was due to issues such as prices, infrastructure and general facilities, he said.
"The Government would be far better tackling these issues than tinkering with the regional tourism structures," the Kildare TD said.