With Co Waterford's tourism planners aiming to increase visitor numbers by at least 5 per cent next year, they and gardai are wrestling with a new problem that is a depressing reflection of the times we live in.
Crime against tourists has spread from the cities to some of the country's isolated beauty spots. Last autumn a number of motoring visitors who made their way into the valley where Mahon Falls is located became unexpected victims.
The visitors, who left their cars and went walking in the beauty spot, deep in the heart of the Comeragh Mountains, returned to find that their luggage and other belongings had been stolen. The occurrence of several such incidents in a short period indicated the visitors were being specifically targeted.
The problem was debated at this month's meeting of Waterford County Council, and there were suggestions warning signs might have to be erected at lay-bys and car-parks in such locations, which attract thousands of visitors every year. The main danger time appears to be around the beginning and end of the season, when few visitors are around and occasional cars are left unattended.
???i. He said it was acutely disappointing to hear of this trend in popular tourist locations and there would have to be efforts to stamp it out as speedily as possible.
The car break-ins are believed to have been carried out by non-locals, and there must be a lesson for the tourist authorities in other counties with scenic attractions, as the gang or gangs responsible are likely to operate a "hit-and-run" strategy, targeting each beauty spot only for a brief period.
This new phenomenon is all the more disturbing for the south-east region as the regional tourism authorities have concentrated on regenerating growth in activity holidays in the years ahead.
A marketing co-operative for walking and cycling tourism operators in Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford was set up by South East Tourism earlier this month.
The region's tourism executives believe there is great scope for increasing the south-east's share of this niche market, which is worth more than £50 million annually to Ireland. But the very remoteness which attract visitors to mountainous areas may also, it seems, facilitate a new trend in opportunist crime.