The Republic's regional transport infrastructure must be improved in order to protect the nation's tourism industry, a conference of hoteliers heard yesterday.

John Power, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), said urgent action was needed to prevent Ireland becoming solely a city break destination for overseas visitors.

Despite an overall increase in overseas visitors, regional tourism outside Dublin has been in steady decline for the past six years. According to the IHF, the number of nights spent outside Dublin by overseas visitors has fallen by 9.2 million since 1999.

"While 6.7 million overseas visitors to Ireland in 2005 is a great achievement, it's not telling the full story in terms of where these visitors went when they got here," said Mr Power, chief executive of the IHF.

"The vast majority did not venture beyond the capital and the stark reality is that regional tourism is in decline."

He urged the Government to fast track what he called the "vital regional access infrastructure" outlined in Transport 21 to encourage tourists to visit the more outlying parts of the country.

"Our regions have so much to offer visitors so it's hugely important that we act now to reverse the downward trend in regional tourism," said Mr Power.

"As the largest indigenous industry in Ireland, employing some 150,000 people, which generated over €5 billion for the economy last year, tourism depends on transport infrastructure for its survival."

Also speaking at the event, Annette Devine, the newly elected president of the IHF, called on the industry to pull together and become better at communicating its attractions.

She said the industry should not rely on the domestic market and must attract more overseas visitors .