Tourism body to launch new five-year plan

The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation will today launch a new five-year plan, aimed at getting the industry back on track.

The tourism sector took a massive hit last year, with 2.2 million fewer visitors compared to 2007 and a loss of €1.7bn in revenue.

CEO of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation Eamon McKeown said the main thing we need to do is improve Ireland's image abroad:

"We need to relaunch Ireland as a tourism destination," he said.

"It is a fact that we loss competitiveness and developed a reputation in some of our key markets, Britain particularly, of being very expensive. We've regained a good deal of competitiveness...We have a superb product still, and now it's offering exceptional value."