Any cuts in internal flights to the region would have a disastrous effect on tourism and on what was increasingly a short-break destination, the annual meeting of Cork Kerry Tourism heard in Killarney yesterday.
The lack of a transatlantic flight to Cork was a major hindrance to tourist growth in both counties, Ms Maura Moynihan, chief executive of Cork Kerry Tourism said."Until we have a direct transatlantic flight into Cork we are working with our hands tied behind our backs."
Reports that Aer Arann intended to cut some of its regional flights from Galway would be of great concern if they applied to Kerry or Cork airports, Ms Moynihan said. Aer Arann had filled a gap in the Dublin-Cork connection left by Aer Lingus last year. "People want to take short breaks. That means we need quick, direct access."
However, Ms Kathleen O'Regan-Sheppard, a director of Kerry Airport, told the meeting that Aer Arann was about to increase flights to and from Kerry. But the meeting heard from the floor that most travellers on the Kerry internal flights were business people, not tourists.
While Kerry and Cork were short-break destinations, too many websites and information available to foreign tourists suggested the region could be "done" in two days and the challenge was to change this perception, Ms Moynihan said.
Mr Ciarán Tuite, of Fáilte Ireland and a board member of Cork Kerry Tourism, said the industry would have to focus on events such as the Killarney Summerfest and the health and spa market.
Last year saw visitor numbers to the region up by 9 per cent, the chairwoman, Ms Georgina Coughlan, said. However, those figures represented all visitors and not just tourist numbers.
Revenue from tourism in 2003 in Cork and Kerry was put at €868 million, an increase of almost 10 per cent on 2002.
The decline of as much as a quarter of business in the Cork Kerry regions's head office in Cork city was due largely to the growth in Internet bookings, the annual report explained.