The crucial summer tourism season was a disappointing one for more than half of operators here, new research from Fáilte Ireland has found.
53% of those industry providers had fewer customers this summer than last, with 23% reporting similar levels and 24% recording more.
The data from the national tourism development authority also found that visitor volumes are down in all markets and in all regions of Ireland.
The challenging year to date is also reflected in both the domestic and overseas visitor market, with even the key North American market that underpinned much of last year's growth struggling.
The latest Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer, which surveyed 1,002 tourism businesses, found a number of factors combined to lead to the disappointing summer.
These included bad weather, which was cited by just over half of operators as a concern.
Customers lacking disposable income was also referenced as a factor by half of those surveyed.
The cost of tourist accommodation and a lack of tourist accommodation were also referred to by more than four out every ten respectively.
The continued high levels of concern about rising operating costs were also an ongoing worry among those polled, including payroll, energy and insurance.
Businesses reported that the decline in visitor volumes coupled with rising costs have combined to give businesses significant challenges when it comes to operating profitably.
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84% of food and drink firms said their profitability was down on last summer, while 78% of hotels and guesthouses reported the same.
Self-catering operators did manage to buck the trend though, with more than a third seeing increased visitor levels, compared to a quarter reporting a fall.
But 60% or more of food and drink businesses and activity providers said their business was down.
The outlook of operators for the rest of 2024 is equally not optimistic.
Half expect business levels to be down year on year, with 19% expecting visitor levels to be up and just under a third anticipating the same level.
The research shows that all regions of Ireland and all markets are expected to be down.
However, asked about reasons to be hopeful, many operators were buoyed by repeat visitors and others are becoming proactive with their marketing, investment in the business or diversification into new markets.
Rising costs though remain a big concern for firms in terms of their outlook.
Rising costs is the single biggest issue affecting businesses in the tourism sector, Paul Kelly CEO of Fáilte Ireland said.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Kelly said all businesses are reporting that costs are outstripping any growth in revenue.
"While revenue has grown, costs have certainly grown at a faster rate," he said.
"That's the core issue that all businesses are reporting to us - rising costs is their biggest issue. They're finding it really hard, even when they can get the revenue, because of the level of cost inflation in their input costs," he stated.
Mr Kelly said that prices have risen globally, but there is no deterioration in value for money ratings for either domestic or international visitors.
The strong US market is Ireland's "saving grace", he said, with the euro to dollar exchange rate providing good value for money for US visitors.
He said economic factors are affecting markets in the UK and Germany markets, causing a drop in visitor numbers, rather than pricing issues in Ireland being the main contributory factor.
The tourism industry would like to see the VAT rate as low as possible to facilitate growth, but he said Fáilte Ireland has not made representations to the Minister for Tourism regarding the VAT rate, as it is not their position to do so.
Bad weather has been a recurring issue, with the past two summers being "particularly unpredictable", Mr Kelly said.
That "certainly" affected the late booking domestic market, he added.
