A study of the economic impact of tourism on Killarney has found that the industry is worth over €400m to the town annually, and directly employs more than 3,000 people.

But the study has also found that the town is suffering significantly from bottlenecks in the road network as well as from seasonality, with occupancy rates dropping to a low of 20% in December.

Killarney is one of the country's key tourism hubs, attracting 1.1 million visitors per year.

The town's Chamber of Commerce has targeted growth of 30% between now and 2025, and commissioned research and planning company W2 Consulting to come with a road map of how that growth might be achieved.

The Killarney Chamber of Commerce report is being launched in Killarney today

Its report on the economic impact of tourism on the town points to problems with seasonality and regionality.

Occupancy rates drop to as low as 20% in December, trailing the national average of 60% for that time of year.

The town is also suffering because of a lack of foreign direct investment - only 7% of visitors come to Killarney on business.

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The road network is also causing problems, with bottlenecks in Adare and Macroom off-putting for domestic visitors travelling through counties Limerick and Cork.

The report said these issues will have to be addressed if Killarney is to increase visitor numbers to 1.4 million people per year by 2025.