July may have brought welcome sunshine for the rest of us, but for many tourism interests in the south-east it was a washout.
Bed-and-breakfast operators were the biggest losers, with more Irish people than usual opting to holiday abroad or stay in hotels, while the number of German and French visitors - normally big supporters of the B & B sector - was down.
But August has started well and brought renewed confidence that this season will at least match last year's record performance.
Mr Paddy Owens who with his wife, Maureen, runs the Sherwood Park House B & B near Ballon, Co Carlow, believes Ireland is becoming too expensive for many continental visitors.
"We're very busy now, but July was very quiet, very disappointing from our point of view. It may be all right for the British and the Americans because of their strong currencies, but Ireland is getting very dear for continentals," he says. "If it wasn't for the Irish business, it would be hardly be worthwhile."
Others, however, are finding even the Irish business elusive. In a survey conducted for Bord Failte for the first six months of the year, 26 per cent of hotels, guest houses and B & Bs in the region said their Irish business was down, while 48 per cent said it was the same.
The big winner has been the self-catering sector. The past few years have seen the number of holiday homes and apartments in the region increase from 250 to almost 2,000 and business continues to boom.
Not everyone in the hotel business views them as competition. A spokesman for the Bayview Hotel in Courtown, Co Wexford, said the season so far had been excellent, with the proliferation of holiday homes bringing an increase in overall business to the area.
He said the area got a lot of repeat business and so was protected from fluctuations in the market.
Mr Brendan Gallagher, owner of the Ocean View Hotel in Dunmore East, Co Waterford, was not sorry to see the back of July, but said business was "really good" at the moment.
Mr Gary Breen of the South East Regional Tourism Authority said there was confidence that August would be a bumper month.
He believed the poor weather in June had put many Irish people off domestic holidays, and this had contributed to the poor performance in July.
