AUGUST DAYS: An end in sight to tourism rip-offs? In the face of stark decline in some areas, some businesses and destinations are getting more price-competitive. Kieran Fagan reports

Tourism is down about 10 per cent in Ireland this year. That is the gut feeling of Peter Barry, liaison officer of the Kinsale Tourism Bureau in Co Cork.

It would have been worse for Kinsale if it had not made strenuous marketing efforts overseas, he adds.

But this is not just about Kinsale. He cites the strength of the euro against the dollar. "The nonsense of the 9 p.m. curfew on children in licensed premises is particularly hard to explain to British and continental visitors."

This sentiment is heard everywhere . . . much more so than the smoking ban.

EU enlargement has opened up new tourist vistas for our traditional visitors.

"The Germans and French can get in their cars and drive - on the same side of the road - to the new destinations to the east," he notes.

In the long run, Barry reckons the novelty value will fade and they will return. Clearly what was happening, and not happening, on Kinsale's picturesque streets last week, is mirrored throughout the island.

The Fáilte Ireland June Tourism Barometer survey shows hotels are performing more strongly than other accommodation sectors but that overall hotel profitability is down on last year, notwithstanding notable increases in hotspots such as Dublin.

The Central Statistics Office says overseas visitors numbers are up 4.6 per cent for the first five months of the year, down from the 8 per cent reported for the first quarter. The figures are met with disbelief by people working in tourism.

The back page of this newspaper coming up to the Bank Holiday weekend reinforced the "good value" message. On Wednesday last, for example, 23 hotels all over the Republic were advertising midweek and weekend packages at attractive prices, with more the next day. Four star hotels offering dinner, bed and breakfast, from € 99 per person sharing, activity breaks, family breaks, pampering breaks, all offered at tempting rates.

There was a similar number in the Sunday Independent of July 25th. (The black spot was Galway, last week, which saw hotels increase prices by 50 per cent and over 100 per cent, for race week.)

"Of course, I'm all for competition," says Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland. "But there's a lesson to be learnt here. If the hotel and guesthouse operators set reasonable rates in the first place and didn't push their Irish customers to the back of the queue, they would fill their accommodation and avoid the last minute scramble. People with young families need to be able to plan in advance."

Meanwhile, Dromoland Castle in Co Clare, fresh from the excitement of hosting President Bush, is offering a round of golf and a four course dinner for €95 to groups of 12 - which compares most favourably to those upmarket courses charging up to €250 a round full stop. Give us a shout, lads, if you are interested!