Poor public transport and high prices have left Ireland lagging behind the rest of the EU when it comes to attracting foreign tourists, according to the World Economic Forum's travel and tourism competitiveness report.
The Republic has been ranked 21st out of 139 countries having been ranked 18th in 2009 and is outperformed by 14 other EU member states.
The report, published every two years, measured the factors and policies that make a travel and tourism industry attractive for development, using "pillars" of competitiveness such as environmental regulation, infrastructure and both natural and cultural resources.
Prices were identified as a particular problem, with the report ranking Ireland sixth from the bottom in relation to purchasing power parity. Only Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland are more expensive places to holiday. Ireland was ranked 123rd out of 139 countries for fuel price competitiveness.
Transport was also seen as a week area with the quality of the State’s ground transport network ranked at 104 out of 139.
On a more positive note, the country’s travel sector fared well in areas such as its tourism infrastructure, environmental sustainability, safety and security, and health and hygiene.
Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said he was pleased that Ireland had been ranked in tenth place for the marketing and branding of itself as a tourist destination.
“That’s obviously a key thing for us. It sends a confident message,” he said.
“We’ve been aware of the value for money issue for a while and are working with the Irish Hotels Federation and the Restaurant Association of Ireland to promote the value message. The price of eating out has fallen and we now have the cheapest hotel prices in Western Europe.”
Mr Gibbons said one issue of concern was the axing of some routes by airlines into Ireland.
“In 2008, we had 500,000 seats coming into Ireland every week. By 2010, that had dropped to 425,000. We need to work with airlines to keep routes open and to reopen those that were closed,” he said.