THE IRA's London bombings have shaken Northern Ireland's booming tourist trade. Inquiries for the first four months of 1996 fell by 40,000 compared with the same period a year ago, when the IRA ceasefire was still operating, according to a report.
But the number of people seeking information about when and where to stay in the North is still 23 per cent higher than in 1994.
Even though Northern Ireland has been relatively free of paramilitary violence for more than 18 months, tourist executives admit the bomb explosions at Canary Wharf and Aldwych caused many potential visitors to have second thoughts.
An NITB spokesman said: "We always knew the huge surge in interest was bound to level off, but there is no doubt: the London bombings have had an impact."
Plans for several major hotels, including a Hilton International in Belfast, are going ahead, however.
Compared with 1995, when there were 149,000 inquiries between January and April, there were 109,000 for the same period this year.
A hotel confidence survey has also confirmed that leisure trade from Britain, the Republic and North America could be affected unless the IRA ceasefire is restored.
"The political uncertainty is undermining the recent buildup in the Northern Ireland economy and resulting in a slide back to the `grin and bear it' mentality that a lot of people in our industry developed over the last 25 years," according to one hotelier.
Ms Patsy O'Kane, director of the Beech Hill Country House hotel, on the outskirts of Derry, said the 80 per cent room occupancy rate in the months following the ceasefire had now dropped by half.
"There has been a slow start to the year. Maybe our expectations were higher than they should have been, based on last year's figures. The breakdown of the ceasefire is difficult to measure, but I believe it has had a 25 per cent effect on our occupancy levels," she said.