Ryanair should consider encouraging tourists to spend more money here by providing them with greater "free" hand luggage allowances when they leave Ireland than when they enter the country, according to the managing director of a chain of souvenir stores.

Ray O'Connell, head of Carroll's Gifts and Souvenirs, said such a system of "alternate" allowances could go a long way to helping the recession-hit Irish tourism market. He said the company should also consider allowing families to check in one piece of luggage for free or at a reduced price. He said this could encourage them to spend more.

O'Connell said while he agreed with Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary's criticism of the government's €10 tourist tax, he believed the company's policy on luggage charges is also having a significant effect on tourist spending.

"We can criticise the government for what it has done on taxes and T2 etc, but we can also say to Ryanair, well, you've changed your policies on baggage," he told the Sunday Tribune. "Crystal and bronze sales have gone though the floor here. We have got to look at imaginative ways of encouraging those tourists who do come here to spend money."

In a recent letter to The Irish Times, O'Connell called on Ryanair to alter its "short-sighted" and "stupid" baggage policy by increasing the hand baggage allowance on its flights to 15kg. Ryanair argued that there was "no possibility" as such bags "simply won't fit in the overhead lockers and would pose a safety risk for passengers and crew".

But O'Connell said he was looking for the weight, not dimensions, to be changed. He believes it would be possible to fit small yet heavy items – such as bronze or marble statues – into the existing dimensions operated by Ryanair, without compromising safety.