Estimates of up to £700 million in lost tourism earnings may now prove conservative, the Minister for Tourism, Dr McDaid, said at the weekend. And the recent foot-and-mouth outbreaks in Northern Ireland have brought even more uncertainty, he said.
Projected losses of £500 million in out-of-State revenue and £140 million in domestic tourism may well prove conservative if the downturn does not abate. But the kinds of restrictions imposed at the start of the foot-and-mouth outbreak will "never be repeated", he assured tourism chiefs.
Dr McDaid was opening the £7 million Dromhall Hotel in Killarney, before going on a marketing trip to four US cities.