Tag Archives: Clare tourism

ALONGSIDE the Cliffs of Moher being named the country’s best visitor attraction in the Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards, there was further good news for Clare. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park was also in the top ten, while Hotel Woodstock was ninth in the best hotels category. Sean Lally of Hotel Woodstock said that he was thrilled to be included. “Head over heels! We’re the only Clare hotel listed in it and since we got it over the weekend the phones have been ringing off the hook in terms of bookings and enquiries and website bookings are well up on what they normally would be for this time of year. “It’s a busy time for web bookings anyway, but they’re well ahead and you can see the spike in terms of traffic to our website. It has really been exceptional. We didn’t see this coming!” He feels that the use of social media, which the hotel has become famous for, …

A NUMBER of Clare tourism attractions and companies were in London recently promoting the Banner at the ‘Flavours of Ireland’ 2022 expo. Representatives from Caherconnell Fort and Sheepdog Demonstrations, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Doolin Ferry Company, Secret Ireland Escapes (based in Killaloe), Shannon Ferries and Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg were among 60 Irish tourism companies present. ‘Flavours’ is Tourism Ireland’s annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators. Now in its 20th year, ‘Flavours’ took place in the Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 global inbound tour operators who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa. ‘Flavours’ provided an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Clare to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the key decision-makers in attendance. The global inbound …

IT seems you can’t move in Clare for American TV crews with yet another travel show filming in the county recently. Following on from earlier high profile Samatha Brown and Michael Londra visits, a crew from the NBC TV network in the United States has been filming in the Banner county recently. They were filming here for four separate TV shows which will be seen by millions of people, or potential American holidaymakers for Ireland, later this year and during 2023. Tourism Ireland invited the NBC crew to come and film here for the Today show (news and talk morning show), 1st Look (weekly travel and lifestyle show which reaches around 1.2 million viewers), Open House (architecture, design and real estate show which reaches over 1.5 million viewers) and NBCLX (a local news network). Their busy schedule was designed by Fáilte Ireland and with more good news about transatlantic services for Clare this week, it is expected to lead to …

CLARE will enjoy exposure to millions of Americans when it is featured early next year in a popular travel programme on the PBS network. American TV presenter Samantha Brown will showcase the Banner County and Limerick in her award-winning travel programme, Places to Love which runs on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). An episode filmed here will air early next year to millions of people across the United States during prime time on the network. Tourism Ireland invited Samantha Brown to film at a number of locations around Clare and Limerick for one 30-minute episode of the latest series of Places to Love. The programme showcases lesser-known spots and haunts in different destinations. Filming was supported by Fáilte Ireland. Samantha and her film crew have been capturing lots of great footage at places like The Burren Perfumery, The Burren Smokehouse, King John’s Castle and Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “Tourism Ireland …

A DIGITAL tourism marketing campaign offering a five-day getaway break to County Clare attracted more than 34,000 entries from across the United States and Canada. Hosted by the Cliffs of Moher Experience and supported by Tourism Ireland, Aer Lingus and Clare tourism operators, the ‘Epic Trip’ competition targeted the North American market and reached an audience of 3.4 million people via Cliffs of Moher Experience social media channels. The winning couple, Peggy and Daniel Haukup from Wichita in Kansas, arrived in Ireland this Tuesday. Their prize includes Aer Lingus direct scheduled return flights from the USA with AVIS car hire and a five-night stay in County Clare with attractions and activities included. “The success of this digital marketing campaign is the result of a collaborative effort involving Aer Lingus and Tourism Ireland and is evidence that an inter-agency digital marketing campaign can be very effective at capturing a wider audience,” stated Geraldine Enright, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience. …

THE CATHAOIRLEACH of Clare County County Council made his television debut in the United States this week promoting tourism in the Banner county. Councillor Tony O’Brien was a guest on the Fox 6 News Breakfast Show in Milwaukee on Thursday morning ahead of the annual Irish Fest in Wisconsin’s state capital. The Killaloe councillor packed plenty of promotion into his 4.30 second slot with presenter Kim Murphy, espousing the delights of every part of Clare to his receptive host. Councillor O’Brien was keen to emphasise also that visitors should fly into Shannon, a point he made more than once. The catharoirleach is part of a tourism delegation led by Clare County Council and members of the Clare Tourism Advisory Forum that is promoting the Banner County as a desirable visitor destination to over 120,000 festival goers at Milwaukee Irish Fest this weekend. In the biggest international tourism promotion of County Clare since before the pandemic, 11 representatives of the local …

BUNRATTY Castle and Folk Park will play host to a live broadcast of RTE’s popular Today Show this week. This Wednesday, May 18, Dáithí Ó Sé and Maura Derrane base their broadcast from the medieval stronghold, but music, food and visitor attractions from all over the Banner will feature. Organised in conjunction with the Tourism Department of Clare County Council and the Clare tourism industry, the outside broadcast will profile the entire county through interviews with the Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr PJ Ryan, and a host of tourism representatives, food demonstrations by local producers and live performances by some of Clare’s best-known musicians. The show will get underway on RTÉ One from 3:30pm with panoramic views of Killaloe and the surrounding countryside. James Whelan, with his boat the Spirit of Killaloe, will be greeting Dáithí Ó Sé from the pier in Killaloe. Dáithí will then take the TV audience on a live walking tour of Bunratty Castle and …

WITH overseas tourism set to step up markedly this year, a recent delegation from Ireland set its sights on growing the Scandinavian market. County Clare was promoted to more than 50 top tour operators and travel agents from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland at Tourism Ireland’s 2022 Nordic trade workshop, which took place this week in Copenhagen. Twenty-five tourism companies from Ireland – including the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience – took part in the workshop, meeting and doing business with the Nordic travel professionals. The goal was to encourage them to extend their Ireland offering, or to include Ireland for the first time, in their brochures and programmes. The key message was that Ireland is open for business again and we cannot wait to welcome back Nordic visitors. Emer Mac Diarmada, Tourism Ireland’s Manager for the Nordic Region, said, “We’re really pleased that so many key Nordic travel professionals have taken the time to come and meet with our …