A plan to develop tourism in Limerick under the marketing slogan "Limerick City - Pride of Place" has been proposed by Shannon Development. This follows the publication of figures showing record hotel occupancy rates.
Mr John Leonard, tourism development manager with the authority, said that unlike Galway and Cork, Limerick had the capacity to absorb further growth without having Dublin's congestion problem.
But tour groups were the strongest drivers of growth and the independent tourist sector needed to be targeted. "Groups benefit the range of accommodation available but do not give full spin-off benefits to the city itself," he said.
The city had received positive feedback from holding rugby fixtures and would again host the UK and Ireland Corporate Games in 2001, which attract 5,000 visitors.
He said that problems such as litter, which gave tourists negative perceptions of the city, would have to be dealt with through educational programmes and, if necessary, the imposition of fines.
"There is a problem in Limerick and there is a problem everywhere else," he said.
The city needed to be marketed to independent holidaymakers because it was no longer a stopping point between tourism destinations. "Ten years ago, the last thing you would have done was put in a branding programme because the product was not there," he said.
Now the perception of Limerick among tour operators and others in the trade was "between neutral and positive. What we have to do now is identify some priorities with the Chamber of Commerce and the corporation."
According to a Shannon Development/MRBI survey on hotel occupancy levels, Co Limerick achieved 78 per cent compared with 74 per cent for Clare, the next-highest rate in the region.
However, independent visitors account for 62 per cent of the Clare figures, compared with just 33 per cent for Limerick city.
An estimated 5.9 million overseas visitors came to the State last year, according to Bord Failte, and this is projected to increase to over eight million by the end of 2006.
"Already around Ireland there are points of congestion. You cannot double tourism numbers in Galway. Limerick is best positioned to achieve much stronger growth than any other city," Mr Leonard said.
Among other initiatives planned are a "Take Two" programme to attract couples to the Shannon region.