The Tourism Industry is calling on schools to wait until September before allowing children to return from their summer holidays.
It claims families are getting ready too early for the return to school and it is hurting their profits.
Schools are currently allowed to vary the return date, with many returning in the last week of August.
Rural hoteliers and restaurateurs are calling on the Government to set a fixed day for children to go back to school.
Adrian Cummins from the Restaurants Association said the busy periods for restaurants to trade keeps shrinking.
Mr Cummins said: "What we've seen in the last number of years is that the season has got shorter and shorter for the domestic market because schools reopen in the second-last week of August, or the last week of august in certain parts of Ireland.
"This isn't good for the Irish economy, it may be good for teachers that may want to take a mid-term break, but for the Irish tourism industry, it's not good."
