Flight prices are set to rise this summer due to a number of factors.
That's according to Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, Chief Executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.
He said 2023 will be challenging for the sector on a number of fronts.
He told Newstalk Breakfast the country's airports, particularly Dublin, should be prepared.
"Certainly costs are going to go up, I think we all know that from inflation," he said.
"In terms of flight prices, the price of oil will impact on that.
"We've also got interest rate hikes, the global economy weakening, supply shortages, business costs generally going through the roof.
"So it'll be a challenging year on a number of fronts, but we do hope we can continue the recovery path".
Summer at the airport
He said the country's airports need to be ready for the summer months.
"I think it's vitally important that there's not chaos [like] there was at the start of last summer," he said.
"That shouldn't be the case in the coming summer.
"Dublin is the key gateway for the island of Ireland and it's vital that there's an efficient, smooth process."
He said scenes of long queues and delays don't put Ireland in a good light.
"I think the airport needs to be appropriately resourced and appropriately staffed and funded to ensure that there's no issues," he said.
"The good news is I think after the difficulties that the airport had at the start of last summer, the last few months have been very, very efficient - and I think that's the way it should remain."
Tourism challenges
He said while several factors - like oil prices - are out of our control, VAT is one the Government can do something about.
The 9% VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sectors is due to go back up to 13.5% from March 1st.
"One of the them is coming right around the corner [which] is the Government's decision to increase the VAT rate... at the end of February," he said.
A restaurant bar bill and tip are seen with a credit card. Picture by: Steve Outram / Alamy Stock Photo"To our mind that would be daft, it would damage demand, it would be inflationary, it would risk jobs.
"So we're really encouraging the Government to keep the VAT rate at 9% well beyond the February 28th deadline.
"The other big issue is the fact that so many hotel bedrooms, and tourism accomodation stock, around the country is occupied by Ukrainian refugees.
"We need to get that bed stock back, so that tourism towns up and down the country can have tourism activity," he added.
