Tourism crisis - Value for money key to success

IRELAND’S multi-billion euro tourist industry has only itself to blame for the crisis besetting the sector, which has now reached a crossroads and is rapidly pricing itself out of the international market.

Hot on the heels of a report identifying rampant profiteering and greed as major elements of this country’s status as Europe’s rip-off capital, a new review emphasises that the industry’s future prospects are under very real threat.

Pointing the finger of blame squarely at the Government for failing to fully develop the industry’s national and regional potential, it warns that “after a successful decade of growth during the 1990s, there are indications of a deterioration in Ireland’s competitiveness in the international tourism market.”