The Chairman of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today described as "strategically important" the announcement by the Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue that Kerry is to be unified for the purposes of tourism development.
The region will come under the remit of Cork-Kerry Tourism, the South West Regional Tourism Authority, from early 2005.
At present North Kerry is part of the Mid-West region, which is administered by Shannon Development, while South Kerry is part of Cork-Kerry Tourism.
Chairman of the Kerry Branch of the IHF, Michael Rosney, is confident that the unification of the county for regional marketing purposes will have positive ramifications for Kerry's tourism industry as a whole.
Mr Rosney said: "This is a very important and strategic decision taken by the Minister. Cork-Kerry Tourism taking on responsibility for the whole of Kerry is sure to result in more effective and streamlined marketing of the region and the seamless packaging of Kerry as a tourism destination of choice."