THE Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) and Tourism Ireland have teamed up to provide what they call a "euro-for-dollar" incentive to make sure American tourism to Ireland will continue in a time when the dollar is spiraling downwards. Ronan Smyth, marketing executive with the IHF told the Irish Voice on Tuesday that Irish hoteliers will be the ones taking the conversion rate. "We will be advertising rooms to our U.S. customers in dollars, for example $99 a night," he said, adding that the euro-for-dollar exchange rate will apply mostly to hotels in the west of Ireland.Stemming from fears that an estimated one million U.S. tourists who visit Ireland annually will go elsewhere to vacation because the value of the dollar against the euro is constantly declining, Smyth said it is the IHF's hope that this new initiative will keep U.S. tourists coming to Ireland. American visitors make up 10% of the tourist population in Ireland and although, Smyth said Irish tourism certainly took a hit after 9/11, it hasn't decreased dramatically. The initiative, which will be launched in the coming weeks in the U.S. market, will guarantee the conversion rate. "It will be up to the individual hotels what they want to charge but it will be well below the normal rates in order to accommodate the growing disparity between both the euro and the dollar," said Smyth. The euro-for-dollar offer will be available via a micro site through Tourism Ireland's website in the coming weeks, and American tourists who wish to find a reasonably priced hotel in dollars can book their vacation online.

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