The foot-and-mouth crisis has had an adverse impact on the Shannon region's £100 million tourism industry, with three in four firms reporting a downturn in business, according to a survey.
The "Shannon Pulse" survey, undertaken in July by the Market Research Bureau of Ireland on behalf of Shannon Development, is based on replies from 134 owner/managers of businesses from the main tourism sectors in the region. Three in every four businesses indicated that their holiday/leisure business from January to June was down on the corresponding period last year.
More than two in three businesses experienced a downturn in British, North American and German trade.
All the region's trade sectors were affected by the general decline in business. However, because of the nature of foot-and-mouth disease and the restrict ions which were put in place, rural businesses were hit hardest.
Shannon Development's regional tourism manager, Mr John Leonard, said that July, August and September would see an improvement in business levels, but their expectation was that the effects of the foot-and-mouth restrictions had yet to be fully realised.
Mr Leonard said: "The downturn in the American economy was highlighted as a factor, but gauging the extent of its impact was difficult, because foot-and-mouth masked its effect . . . What is absolutely clear is that competition for the Irish holidaymaker is not just local or national, it is now global.
"The issue of value was highlighted in the survey and a belief that Ireland is becoming more expensive. The introduction of the euro will bring this into much sharper focus. Achieving competitive advantage will become the dominant issue and a real challenge for Irish tourism in the years ahead."