A call by the Small Firms Association (SFA) for free flights and ferry services into Ireland to boost tourism has met with mixed reaction from politicians and tourist organisations.
Speaking in response to the call from SFA director Mr Pat Delaney, Fine Gael's spokesman on tourism, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, said while he understood the merits of free flights into Ireland, he believed the Government first needs to establish why Ireland seems less attractive as a tourist destination.
Mr Deenihan claimed the Government has "more or less thrown in the towel" in relation to tourism this year.
"The warning signs were there at the beginning of the year, but they were not heeded," he added. "It is going to be very difficult to retrieve numbers in the tourism sector".
Mr Deenihan noted the vigorous British marketing campaign underway in the US, which he claimed was succeeding in attracting tourists, while there is "no presence of any profile of Ireland in the US at the moment".
The Minister for the Arts, Sport and Tourism Mr O'Donoghue said the principal adverse factors impacting the tourism season were out of the Government's control, including bad weather; the economic downturn in the US and the impact of the events of September 11th.
He believed Government policies, including €3 million recently made available for additional marketing activity, "are more realistic than the proposals for free flights and ferries as suggested by the SFA".
Irish Hotels' Federation, chief executive Mr John Power, said the introduction of free flights and more low cost fares would boost tourism. "We need to make flights more attractive and open up access to Ireland out of the US in particular," he said. "Tourism from the US could be down by 15 to 20 per cent this year and we have to look at ways to increase this".
"I fully agree with the SFA's aspiration for free flights," he added. "We are a hostage of the difficulties associated with access into the country because we are an island. We need to see more low-cost operations".
Mr Pat Delaney of the SFA said free flights and ferries into Ireland "would make more sense than having substantial investment in hotel infrastructure being under-utilised".
He outlined that estimates show a shortfall of almost 5,000 visitors a week on last year's figures, which he suggested will accumulate losses in excess of €400 million to the end of September.