SCENERY STILL A DRAW FOR GERMANS - The biggest Irish tourism trade fair, called Meitheal, is taking place over the next few days in Killarney.
It is organised by Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland and attended by 300 overseas tour operators who sell Ireland abroad in 25 to 30 countries.
Dino Steenkamp's company Der Tours is the biggest tour operator coming here from Germany, and brought 40,000 German's to Ireland last year. He says access into Ireland has improved substantially, and Germans are still attracted by the scenery and people.
Tourism accounts for 3.9% of Ireland's GNP, and in 2004 the sector took in €5 billion. One of the company's looking for new business at Meitheal is Abbey Tours, which brings 70,000 tourists to Ireland, mainly from Continental Europe, each year.
Brian McColgan, Abbey's managing director, says the main challenge for the industry is to fill the huge amount of extra capacity in hotels around the country. He also adds that Ireland is losing its share of the leisure market in the regions as Dublin benefits from bigger numbers.
Mr McColgan says there has been much negative publicity about prices, but he says the increase in business his company has experienced shows prices are competitive. He says the first few months of this year have shown strong growth in France, Germany and Spain.
On the Ryder Cup, Mr McColgan says the event will be 'a one hit' of relatively short duration, and will be Dublin-focused. He describes it as a welcome addition but not the be-all and end-all of Irish tourism.
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