The President of the Irish Hotels Federation has said the industry is hoping for a resounding improvement in fortunes this year.
Commenting on the success of this year's Saint Patrick's weekend festival, Michael Vaughan said the tourist industry in general is showing more than just green shoots of recovery which he says is largely down to enhanced competitiveness.
He also credited Government initiatives such as the reduction of the VAT rate in the services industry and the efforts of Tourism Ireland to market the national brand, which he said would generate a tremendous dividend.
Mr Vaughan said he expected that good value in hotels would win us more new tourists and return visitors.
He pointed to a recent study which showed that Dublin hotels are now the most competitive in Europe.
