With the exception of coastal resorts and the larger towns, it has been a depressing season for tourism in the south-east.
While most people agree that things could have been worse, the impact of foot-and-mouth is still being felt in rural areas. Mr David Whelan, owner of the Circle of Friends restaurant in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, said Australian and Canadian visitors had been more noticeable this year due to the decrease in American tourists.
"We had six travel agents from New York in one night a couple of weeks ago and even they had contemplated not coming because of the way the foot-and-mouth outbreak was portrayed over there. A lot of Americans don't know Ireland is separate from England and they don't understand the countryside, so they were afraid they would have nothing to eat."
Mr Whelan said his business was down 30 per cent because of the outbreak. "I'm looking out at the square as I speak and there's not one there . . . but we'll keep going. Maybe we'll have a bumper year next year."
Meanwhile, Mr Seamus Doran, manager of the National 1798 Visitor Centre in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, said the teachers' strike also had had a negative impact, with fewer school groups visiting.
Ms Eileen O'Rourke, chief executive of Carlow Rural Tourism, said that foot-and-mouth was only part of the picture. "Foot-and-mouth hit at the worst possible time, at the height of the booking season. But there had been a trend anyway towards people staying in hotels in towns within walking distance of pubs and restaurants, so rural areas are definitely suffering."
On the bright side, it has been an excellent season for resort towns such as Courtown, Co Wexford, and Tramore, Co Waterford, according to Ms Pat O'Donoghue, commercial officer with the South-East Regional Tourism Authority.
While there was a drop in tours from the US, the domestic market had performed well, and overall it "had not been as bad as everybody expected".