Irish tourism is facing more uncertainty after the US issued warnings about travel to parts of Italy and the French authorities closed the Louvre Museum in Paris over concerns for its staff catching the coronavirus from the hundreds of people streaming through its doors.

Irish tourism chiefs are on high alert over the summer season as question marks were raised for the first time about major global sporting events, including the Olympics -- if the coronavirus threat is not contained.

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office have shown a decline in tourism numbers for the past two months.

Research commissioned by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) said Government had to match the level of private investment in tourism in the regions post-Brexit.