DOUBLE TROUBLE; CRISIS IN THE ECONOMY Tourist figures down by 50,000 Unions say no to freeze on pay.

Byline: BY EOIN REYNOLDS

THE economy was dealt a double blow yesterday as tourism figures plummeted and unions rejected calls for a pay freeze.

Visitor numbers fell by 50,000 in April compared to the same month last year, Central Statistics Office figures revealed.

The drop has cost the economy an estimated EUR30-40million.

Impact union general secretary Peter McLoone added to the headache as he warned Partnership talks are in deadlock.

He dubbed demands from business groups for a wage freeze as "an absurd proposition" and lashed out at Brian Cowen for pre-empting the talks in a speech during a business lunch.

Mr McLoone said: "We've been in Government buildings for more than two months and we have very little progress to report.

"I think it is critically important that the Government would engage across the negotiating table with the social partners rather than through the airwaves or dinner functions."

The tourism figures were an unexpected blow and the falloff even exceeded the 2002 figure when international travel nosedived after the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in September 2001.

In particular, visitor numbers from the UK took a major hit. British tourists typically accounts for more than half of the market but in April this year the numbers crossing the Irish Sea fell by 56,500 to 301,200.

Fine Gael tourism spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said the Government must act now to ensure the industry doesn't end up in crisis.

She said: "The tourism minister told me in the Dail this week that tourism bodies are in the process of a strong concentration on the United Kingdom market to try to maintain the numbers that come to Ireland and to grow the market. If such an initiative is actually underway the April figures are a disastrous sign for its impact and it is clear that a targeted focus on Britain is essential now."

A spokesman for Tourism Ireland said a lot of work has been done to promote the country abroad.

He added: "We continue to fine tune our marketing campaigns to take account of the challenges in the marketplace, working with the industry here and overseas to provide compelling reasons to visit the island of Ireland and highlight the ease of getting here and the good value fares and offers available."

Although the figures suggest a disastrous fall-off for the industry, it is still in better shape than at the start of the decade.

In April 2000 523,100 people visited Ireland.

That dropped to 460,000 in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Since then the figure has jumped year on year to a high last year of 651,600.

FUEL FEAR

OIL prices could soar to EUR170 a barrel this summer, Chakib Khelil, president of oil-producing body Opec, warned yesterday

HOME MOAN

THE value of Dublin's plushest pads has fallen by 41 per cent, knocking millions of euro off their asking prices

CAPTION(S):

PLEA Mitchell