Bord Failte's chief executive has warned against indifference to foreign tourists becoming "the new norm" following the dramatic rise in visitor numbers. Tourist numbers have risen from 2.8 million in 1989 to a projected 5.86 million this year.
Mr John Dully said the tendency to take tourists for granted was a "real menace" to the traditional welcome visitors received here, one of Ireland's two most successful selling points abroad.
Speaking at a forum on tourism in Dublin yesterday, Mr Dully said Bord Failte would also be "active and vigilant" in defending the Republic's other great asset, its "largely pristine physical environment".
Dublin Tourism's chief executive, Mr Frank Magee, cited the two main obstacles to the continuation of the city's tourism boom as the "proliferation of beggars and people sleeping on the streets in broad daylight" and litter.
He said the huge increase in homeless people was a "sad indictment of the Celtic Tiger" and he had sympathy for them. But "people sleeping on mattresses in the street in broad daylight is illegal" and the gardai "should enforce the law on obstructing the pavement".
He said tourists were being "intimidated" by beggars in places like the Ha'penny Bridge.
Similarly, there should be on-the-spot fines for littering. "Tourists remark on the amount of litter. It sends out the wrong message. If you invite people into your home you make sure it's spruced up for their coming. A lack of respect for our city shows a lack of respect for ourselves."
Mr Magee also warned that if tourist numbers rose as projected and the tourist accommodation being developed came on stream, there would be twice as much accommodation as would be needed by 2002.
After rising by 18 per cent in the first eight months of last year, the number of overseas visitors to Dublin is projected to grow by 7 per cent in the whole of this year. Hotel occupancy levels fell to 71 per cent last year compared to 76 per cent in 1997.
But several new air services into Dublin would lead to increased numbers this year, he said. These included the new Aer Lingus route from Los Angeles; Delta's daily service from New York; CityJet from Faro and Lisbon; Czech Airlines from Prague; and American Trans Air from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Mr Magee said another obstacle to growth was the shortage of taxis. Some tour operators were hesitant about putting their clients in hotels even as close to the city as Ballsbridge because of the problem they faced in finding a taxi to take them into and out of the city-centre.