More than half of tourism businesses in the Shannon region have indicated their holiday and leisure business is down on last year, according to an MRBI survey.
The "Shannon Pulse" tourism survey, undertaken among 135 tourism businesses for Shannon Development, notes that last year was an extremely difficult one for tourism in the west of Ireland due to foot-and-mouth and the impact of the September 11th atrocities. Less than one in five businesses reported growth.
The performances of the overseas markets is of greatest concern, with 55 per cent of the region's tourism businesses experiencing a downturn and 19 per cent experiencing growth compared to last year.
Trade feedback also indicates the North American market is, as anticipated, proving to be the most difficult with over two-thirds of those surveyed experiencing a downturn.
The German market is also causing concern, with 31 per cent of businesses down and only 21 per cent showing an increase. In the French market, 66 per cent are showing the same level as last year, 14 per cent an increase and 19 per cent a decrease.
Feedback on the British market is mixed, with 28 per cent of businesses experiencing an increase, 27 per cent showing a decrease and the remainder on a par with last summer.
Coach tour business has been cited by the hotels, visitor attractions and entertainment sectors as being badly affected.
The domestic market is more positive, with almost three-quarters of businesses showing levels on a par (45 per cent) or up (29 per cent) on last year, with 26 per cent having less tourists. Almost one in four of those reporting a downturn said business was down by over 25 per cent and half experiencing a drop of more than 10 per cent.
Forecasting to the year's end, the industry believes there may be some pick-up from the home and UK markets but overall, nearly half of all tourism businesses (46 per cent) expect their turnover to be down at the end of year.