The limited company to be set up under recently agreed North-South structures to deal with tourism co-operation will have "more teeth" than some of the six formal implementation bodies, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, has said.
Speaking in Donegal this week, Dr McDaid said he was confident that with the new political structures in place in Northern Ireland, cross-Border co-operation on tourism would increase.
"In the past there was no way the industry [in the North] could liaise with the political establishment to say what it was they wanted. Now I can see a huge amount of co-operation," he added.
The issue of an implementation body on tourism was one of the most controversial during discussions on North-South structures. In the deal agreed before Christmas, it was decided that a publicly-owned limited company would instead be established by Bord Failte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. It will have full responsibility for international marketing.
Dr McDaid said that in the 15-page document on North-South structures, two pages had been given over to tourism. He said the company would have more teeth than some of the implementation bodies because it would have its own budget and clear targets.
"If you look at the wording, in tourism we actually have to deliver. With a lot of the other ones, there are aspirations to them."
He also disclosed that his Department has set aside up to £250,000 towards a cross-Border marketing initiative which will focus on attracting tourists to the north-west region through the City of Derry Airport.
"I have no doubt that Derry airport at its full potential and when it can be effectively marketed as a gateway can be of immense service to the growth of tourism in Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Donegal and Sligo," he said.
The proposal that the Government provide funding for the marketing initiative came from the Donegal Employment Initiative Task Force, set up to counter Fruit of the Loom job losses, and the Donegal Tourism Committee.
Dr McDaid said he believed the north-west had to be marketed as a region and that Derry airport was crucial in this.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Ms Harney, has also held discussions with Ryanair in recent months on the possibility of the company starting flights to Britain and Europe out of Derry, but improvements to the airport runway are necessary first.
The airport management is currently in discussions with a number of carriers, including Ryanair.
A spokeswoman at the Department of Tourism said once plans for the upgrading of the runway were finalised, the money for the marketing initiative would be provided by the Government.