The SDLP has echoed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's warning about the "barrier" a new UK visa waiver scheme will place on cross-border tourism in Ireland.
Foyle MLA Sinead McLaughlin said her own constituency in Derry is "reliant" on tourists arriving in Dublin and choosing to make the journey to Northern Ireland without restrictions.
She was speaking after Mr Varadkar raised concerns about the implications of the new Electronic Tourist Authorisation system could have on the tourist trade across Ireland.
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The scheme, similar to the system used in the US, will see short-term visitors to the UK applying for an ETA and providing biometric data.
Irish citizens will not need an ETA to travel to Northern Ireland as they already have guaranteed free movement under the terms of the Common Travel Area.
The scheme as originally set out would have meant non-Irish EU citizens and other international passport holders, including those living permanently south of the border, would have had to apply for the visa waiver.
Earlier this month, the UK Government updated its plans and confirmed non-Irish citizens living legally in the state will not need a waiver.
But concerns remain that foreign visitors will be put off travelling to Northern Ireland.
"I think it could cause problems for tourists, particularly tourists who don’t need a visa to come here, so tourists from other parts of the European Union who might come to Dublin or Cork or some part of this jurisdiction who would then need to get the electronic authorisation to travel north," Mr Varadkar said.
“Certainly when I was tourism minister working with my counterpart at the time, Arlene Foster, we would have really sold the idea that people can visit Ireland and can visit any part of Ireland and why not take a day trip from Dublin to the Causeway Coast or why not fly into Belfast and travel south. That’s going to be more complicated now."
Asked about the potential impact on Derry and other border areas, SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin told Belfast Live: "Tourism is one of our most important sectors, it's a growing sector and it's a key driver for the economy. We're obviously very reliant on it.
"Our point of entry for our visitors, in particular our American visitors for example, is Dublin airport. Our EU visitors also tend to come through that route, it's our primary gateway.
"If a traveller coming into, for example Dublin, it's complete free access in the whole of the south but if they want to come into the north they have an extra layer now of bureaucracy to fill in. It will be something like what you'd have to fill in when you visit America. People may choose to do that because they desperately want to travel north, but you're immediately putting a barrier there to people coming north."
She continued: "Throughout the Troubles international visitors came to Ireland and it was as if they got to the roundabout at Donegal Town and went back down again. We never had the breakthrough. We're now getting the breakthrough, we are a destination for international visitors, and need to keep that destination.
"The Wild Atlantic Way is marketed internationally by Tourism Ireland as being from Cork right the way up to the Antrim Coast. It is internationally recognised and in order for us to maximise those opportunities, we don't want to put any barriers in place with ETAs."
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