February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue, has instructed the State’s tourist body, Failte Ireland, to adopt proposals tabled by the consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
These recommendations include the scaling down or closure of an as-yet-unspecified number of Ireland’s 64 tourist offices. The tourism promotion previously undertaken by regional tourism bodies will also be folded into Failte Ireland’s operations.
The moves come at a time when there are considerable doubts about the health of Ireland’s tourism sector.
Some analysts contend that Dublin’s growing popularity, especially as a destination for short breaks for travelers from the UK and continental Europe, is essentially masking other problems.
The annual number of so-called “bed nights” — one “bed night” is one tourist bed occupied for one night — rose by