Why only promote Irish summers?

THE Irish landscape, still the main attraction for the seven million plus tourists who come here each year, is just as exquisite in winter as it is in the summer peak season.

Yet, we get only a scattering of visitors between October and March.

This is in contrast to the situation in Scotland where they have an organised winter tourism scene, supported by the government and tourism authorities. Reckoned to be worth around £70 million, it fills thousands of empty beds and puts bums on bar stools and restaurant seats at a slack time of the year.