This year will be a challenging one for tourism in Ireland because of global economic uncertainty and a weaker dollar, tourism chiefs have warned.
Fáilte Ireland, the body responsible for developing tourism in the region, Tourism Ireland, and Dublin Tourism met with industry interests in Dublin today to outline their plans for promoting Dublin city and county this season.
Paul O'Toole, Tourism Ireland
Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole said overseas tourism contributed a record €3.9 billion in revenue to the Irish economy in 2007, €1.5 billion of which was generated in the Dublin region.
He said, however, that the year ahead would be "challenging" in terms of attracting tourism from overseas.
"Global economic uncertainty, the weak dollar and a softening in consumer confidence generally all make for a more difficult business environment," he said.
"Every year brings new challenges and I am confident that, working in close partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin Tourism and the industry, we can overcome these hurdles and succeed in growing tourism to the island of Ireland again in 2008."
Mr O'Toole said it will be more important than ever to offer a "top class" tourism product and service and to provide value for money.
Shaun Quinn, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland said the "fundamentals underlying tourism in Dublin city and county remained relatively healthy" although more investment in cultural and business tourism would be necessary for sustained long-term growth.
He said that while 2007 appeared to have been "another good year for Dublin generally", conditions in 2008 could be more difficult.
"We cannot ignore the potential impact of stock market volatility and exchange rate movements on our business but it is much too early to speculate on any impact at this stage," he said.
Last year, a record 7.8 million people visited Ireland - an increase of 5 per cent on 2006.
Despite economic difficulties worldwide, visitor growth this year is expected to top 8.2 million.
Additional reporting: PA