Irish Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar says he will abolish a €3 visitor tax in order to bring tourist numbers to previous healthy levels, according to the Independent. In return for addressing the tax, which has been blamed by airlines for a substantial loss in business, he wants operators such as Aer Lingus and Ryanair to reopen previously shelved services.

Varadkar believes the tourism sector--the U.S. and U.K. segments in particular--should be able to capitalize on a visit by Britain's Queen Elizabeth in May and a rumored visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, the paper says.