Northern Ireland tonight launched a tourism offensive to win back trade lost by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The launch came as Fine Gael called on the Government to grant rate relief to the Republic's tourist industry to help it overcome the impact of foot-and-mouth.
Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey announced details of the Tourism Recovery Planin Belfast to an audience of travel trade staff from the US who are on a fact-finding mission.
He said the only way to restore confidence in tourism was by counteracting negative and "often inaccurate" reports on the impact of the disease in the North.
Mr Empey said last weekend a report on the impact of the foot-and-mouth outbreak had shown serious ignorance among Americans.
Some believed there would be no food and they would catch the disease if they visited the UK.
With the North officially a disease-free area and meat and dairy exports resuming, Mr Empey said now was the right time to launch the recovery plan.
There would be a media and travel trade blitz across the US and Canada; trade and media receptions in Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich; a television advertising campaign in Scotland; and trade and media launches in Manchester and Liverpool.
Within the island of Ireland, TV, radio and newspaper advertising will be run, he said.
Meanwhile Fine Gael's Mr David Stanton called on the Government to change the law so that local authorities across the country could waive payment of rates by the tourism sector in cases of severe loss of business caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, he said it was a matter of survival for many in the tourist industry.
"These people have taken risks and have invested heavily in their business, they have contributed hugely to the economy and to the exchequer, and now that they are in trouble the Government should move to help them out so that they can stay in business," Mr Stanton said.
Additional reporting PA