Fáilte Ireland is targeting "work-at-home mothers" in the southwest in a move to encourage women back into the tourism industry in Cork and Kerry.
The move has been endorsed by Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue, who said tourism wanted to provide "an Irish welcome".
Piloted last year, training programmes are under way or about to start in 10 centres in west Cork and Kerry to encourage women in particular to work in the industry. Some €1.5 million of the €10 million announced for tourism by Fáilte Ireland on Thursday night is being allocated to the effort.
"We are trying to get more local people back into the industry," Shaun Quinn, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, said.
"We are targeting work-at-home mothers who have a fantastic Irish welcome. They are what the industry wants."
One worker in four in the industry at the moment is non-Irish and in some establishments the ratio is far greater.
Mr Quinn was speaking at a tourism briefing in Killarney on Thursday night, where many tourism workers are foreign nationals and where non-Irish workers outnumber Irish workers in some tourism establishments. "We are convinced there are more Irish people within the local population who can be attracted." It was a question of "looking hard enough" and finding them, he said.
Women who chose to work in tourism could expect flexible hours and "reasonably paid" work.