The government allocated an extra 4.5m this year on marketing for the Ryder Cup, which is expected to attract 1bn television viewers. That budget includes 3.5m for overseas marketing, and over half that money will be spent in the coming weeks, said Failte Ireland's John Rafferty.

The campaign will target 14 countries but will focus mainly on the US and Great Britain, "The heightened part of the television advertising will take place over the coming weeks, " Rafferty said. Last week's threat of a taxi strike around the golfing event was "not helpful", he said. "The Ryder Cup will be a real opportunity for Ireland to showcase what it can do."

Separately, Failte Ireland has embarked on a 1.5m autumn marketing campaign, and Rafferty said the fine weather appears to be prompting more people to holiday at home.

Much of the push is around directing potential holidaymakers to the www. ireland. ie website, and Rafferty said that traffic on the website has increased by 24% in the past month. "There is tremendous buoyancy in the market, " he said.

Business in the domestic market is now expected to come in "just shy of up 20% for the year, which is impressive growth", Rafferty said.