The traditional St Patrick's Day start to the tourist season is more tentative this year but bookings are healthy enough to provide hope of at least a partial recovery from the crises of 2001.
Accommodation providers say business from the United States is down but a strong domestic market and increased visitor numbers from Britain are providing a lifeline.
They say, however, that business lost due to the foot-and-mouth crisis and September 11th will not be recovered in one season.
The chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation, Mr John Power, said group bookings from the US were down between 30 and 40 per cent on the norm.
Neither last year nor 2000 was a year with normal figures, due to foot-and-mouth and the Millennium, respectively, so the average figures are taken on previous years.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation chief executive, Mr Brendan Leahy, said he had reports of business being down as much as 60 per cent.
"It's going to take two or three years to recover the level of business we had. It's coming back a bit but not full blast," he said.
"The main concern is that St Patrick's weekend and Easter are coming very close together and there is going to be a long, lean time between then and the summer season."
Mr Leahy said the St Patrick's Festival was an important symbol that Ireland was back in business, but he warned that vigorous marketing of all events this year would be critical.
Mr Power also said promoting Ireland as a destination was vital this year as much would ride on late bookers waiting to assess the global political situation before committing to a trip.
"This is going to be a challenging year. We have got to continually promote in the US and British markets. From that point of view, the St Patrick's Weekend is a very important showpiece," he said.
Reports are similar from round the State. The Killarney Park Hotel is fully booked this weekend but has fewer US visitors than normal.
"It's more Irish-based than US-based," said its general manager, Mr Donagh Davern. "The golfing holidays for US visitors are beginning to come back, but there are gaps.
"We normally don't have to worry about filling rooms until October but we have gaps in July. We're going to have to work that bit harder this year."
Most of the 450 homes affiliated to Irish Farmhouse Holidays reopen this weekend after the winter and the IFH marketing executive, Ms Eileen McDonagh, said business looked promising.
"Group travel from the US has been hit but business from fly-drive customers is reasonably good," she said. "There is a drop overall on last year, and after one bad year another setback would be a disaster, but things look to be going smoothly so far."
A shortage of suitable seats due to the reduction in transatlantic flights is causing problems for some operators, according to Ms Carol O'Gorman, vice-chairwoman of the Town and Country Homes Association and proprietor of the Ashfort guesthouse in Charlestown, Co Mayo.
"The demand is out there. The agents in North America are speaking very positively but access would be one of the problems," he said.
"We are hoping that it might come back up in the autumn but the bookings are coming in slower than we'd like. As one of our members described it to me, we just have to have nerves of steel and wait and see."
The shortage of Americans countrywide is not worrying the St Patrick's Festival organisers in Dublin, who say that, despite perceptions, visitors from the US make up just 30 per cent of parade spectators. "We have an international audience and the signs are that it will be as strong as ever," the chief executive, Ms Maria Moynihan, said.