A CRUNCH meeting is set to take place between representatives of 250 hotels and the board of Cork Kerry Tourism tomorrow, amid claims that the tourist marketing body has no strategic plans in place to capitalise on Cork’s success as European Capital of Culture.

CORK hoteliers could be on the verge of breaking away from the Cork-Kerry Tourism agency and going it alone.

The Chairman of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today described as "strategically important" the announcement by the Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue that Kerry is to be unified for the purposes of tourism development.

Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue has decided that Kerry should be unified at regional level for tourism, marketing and development purposes.

TOURIST chiefs in the southwest region are celebrating bucking the national trend with an 5% increase in foreign visitors, and they are hoping to attract transatlantic flights into Cork Airport.