In close competition with this are Killarney, Waterville, Barrow, as well as ten other courses scattered all over the County. If golf is not an interest and walking is, a number of excellent walking routes over the most scenic areas are available in the Kerry Way, Sl Chorcha Duibne and many other equally interesting trips. Tourism is now the largest industry with over 1.7 million visitors per year and it is an objective to increase visitor numbers to almost 2.2 million by 1998, leading to an estimated income of 250m involving 10,000 jobs. Literary traditions of this area are continuing with Listowel Writer's Week Festival running continuously since 1971. The County also has strong links with the International Film Industry.
Agriculture is of major importance to the economy, particularly in the central and northern area.
The County is essentially one of small farms with dairy farming predominating. We have about 5,000 dairy farmers with herd average of twenty-four cows and an average milk yield of about 800 gallons per cow. About 100 million gallons of milk are produced each year. Sheep numbers, at about 500,000 are substantial, while there is a limited amount of cereal growing in the northern part of the County. Manufacturing industry is a significant contributor to economic development and employment creation.