One of Ireland's largest tourist attractions says it will only welcome 20% of visitors compared to last year.
Geraldine Enright is the director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience.
She told Down to Business: "Last year we welcomed 1.6 million visitors - which is a phenomenal amount of people to welcome to the rural west coast of Ireland.
"And since we re-opened post-COVID, we're only welcoming a fraction of those visitors.
"And it really calls out how dependent we have been on the international market.
"This year we are estimating that we will only see 20% of those 1.6 million visitors."
"It's a huge shock to the system.
"And while there are so few people, for those that are coming that experience is absolutely fantastic.
"And right now there has to be a balance between those safety measures and visitor enjoyment - and not loosing good customer service along the way".
"Through the whole crisis people have returned to nature and nature has really resonated with people.
"As the domestic visitor gets out to visit again, they're coming to coastal areas, they're coming to rural areas because they are viewed as being safe places to come and visit".
Ruth Andrews is chairperson of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.
She said: "The indigenous tourist sector generates about two million of our revenues in tourism every year, so that's not be sniffed out and it's an integral part of what we do and who we serve.
"I suppose for some businesses more than others, the pivot is going to be greater because they may have had a high dependency on those international visitors.
"But in the lead-up to opening...they have already invested significantly in their products."
She said this has been done "to make sure that they are safe and welcoming - almost all I'd say at this stage have signed up to the charter that Fáilte Ireland have put in place.
"They've all had to adhere to the very strict protocols and new operating procedure that were agreed with the Department of Health, etc".
"So they've opened their doors knowing they can welcome their customers in and deliver a terrific experience to them".
