Tag Archives: tourism

The creation of 3,400 extra tourism jobs has been lauded by The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC), but allied to a warned that the sector faces external threats. The tourism industry was worth €7.3 billion to the Irish economy last year and over eight million international tourists visited Ireland in 2015. The sector paid €1.8 billion to the exchequer in taxes last year. 2016 has continued to perform strongly with 13% growth in overseas visitors for the first six months, ITIC reported. ITIC said that the latest CSO quarterly figures show that tourism has increased employment further and is Ireland’s largest business employer. The sector now accounts for one in nine jobs nationally. Recent tourism jobs include the opening of two flagship visitor attractions in Dublin – GPO’s Witness History and Epic Ireland, ITIC said. However, ITIC has warned that growth and regional balance should not be taken for granted. The group said that the decisions taken in Budget 2017 …

THE Cliffs of Moher features in an innovative Tourism Ireland Euro 2016 promotion, to capitalise on the tourism potential of the tournament. Celebrating the historic and remarkable achievement that both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland teams have qualified for the tournament, Tourism Ireland has created a new online film – bringing the beautiful game together with some of the most beautiful places on the island of Ireland. The video features two freestyle footballers – Jamie Knight in Northern Ireland and Dara Coyne in the Republic of Ireland – playing ball at some of our top visitor attractions, including O’Brien’s Tower and the Cliffs of Moher. The campaign will be rolled out on Facebook and YouTube in seven markets, including France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Canada, leveraging devotion to football in those countries. The film will also be promoted worldwide on Ireland.com (16.6 million visits in 2016) and via Tourism Ireland’s social media platforms – with its Facebook fans (about 3.6 million fans), Twitter followers (346,000), and on its YouTubechannel. …

The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) has called for the national targets for tourism to be revised upward, and for any new government to be more ambitious for an industry that now employs 224,000 people nationwide. The national strategy of the last government – People, Place & Policy – set a goal of overseas visitors spending €5 billion by 2025 but in ITIC’s view this is too modest. Tourism’s strong recent growth has meant that overseas earnings from tourism have risen already to €4.2 billion per annum, a figure that puts the national targets over the next 10 years into sharp perspective. Paul Gallagher, ITIC’s chairman, commented,“CSO figures show us that international tourists now spend €4.2 billion per annum while staying in Ireland; the idea that as a country we should be aiming to hit only €5 billion by 2025 is simply not an appropriately stretching target. With less than 2% aggregate annual growth we would reach the stated national …

Clare tourism businesses were in Dublin this week to attend the high-profile Meitheal, Fáilte Ireland’s largest trade fair. Organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with its sister agency Tourism Ireland this year’s event brought over 310 overseas buyers into the country to meet with 455 Irish tourism businesses. Last year’s Meitheal event resulted in over 2,650 new business contracts being signed, including almost 900 contracts with international operators who had never programmed Ireland before. At this year’s event, there were up to 40 tour operators in attendance who have not previously had Ireland on their books – predominantly from China, India, the Gulf States and South Africa. Speaking at Meitheal, Fáilte Ireland’s CEO, Shaun Quinn, said, “By bringing both overseas and Irish operators together eyeball to eyeball, we managed to generate deals and contracts which will ensure significant additional tourism activity next year – including in County Clare”. “Whether at the trade fair, or through our tailored trips around the country, for the overseas attendees, Ireland certainly impressed our overseas guests and …

CSO figures published today (Wednesday) show a significant increase in overseas visitors to Ireland between December 2015 and February 2016. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said, “Today’s figures represent a very positive start to 2016 – confirming that, for the first time ever, we welcomed more than one million visitors in the first two months of the year. In the period December 2015 and February 2016, almost a quarter of a million additional visitors (+17%) came to Ireland, when compared with the same three-month period last year.” Growth was recorded from all markets around the world – including Britain (+21%), North America (+13%), Mainland Europe (over +14%) and from Australia and developing markets (almost +9%). “Our focus now is on surpassing last year’s success, to ensure that 2016 is another record-breaking year for overseas tourism. We remain conscious of recent tragic events in Brussels and elsewhere and the potential impact on travel; we continue to monitor the situation,” Mr …

Businesses in Clare could benefit from the county’s links to a book by Bram Stoker, a great-grandnephew of the Gothic novelist has said. Ivan Stoker Dixon pointed out that Bram Stoker “sourced and set” The Snake’s Pass, a precursor to Dracula published in 1890, in County Clare. Mr Stoker Dixon believes the county, especially the tourism industry, could capitalise on its links with the author, describing the current situation as a “lost opportunity”. “The potential [if properly managed] could render County Clare many rewards, such as a Bram Stoker Trail, with talks and storytelling sessions; insight and assistance to academic Irish studies, schools, drama and so on; also, horse-drawn car rides along the coast roads, as Bram Stoker did, soaking up the atmosphere for his novel,” he said. The London resident also points out that there is “a thriving twice-yearly Bram Stoker festival at Whitby, Yorkshire, which not only adds to their attractions but prolongs their season from early spring …

Liverpool was the location for a major tourism business networking event this week, where there was a great opportunity to showcase Ireland. The visit of Prince Charles to the Burren last week gave North Clare an edge in noting it as a destination. More than 300 top international buyers from 40 different countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Brazil and Russia, were provided with a wealth of information about the island Ireland at ExploreGB 2016. As part of its ongoing partnership with VisitBritain, Tourism Ireland – together with 18 Irish tourism companies, including Doolin2Aran Ferries – took part in ExploreGB, VisitBritain’s flagship international event which took place in Liverpool. The two-day workshop involved a series of pre-scheduled, one-to-one appointments – showcasing Britain and the island of Ireland to an influential audience of international buyers and helping to deliver additional itineraries and brochure pages featuring both destinations. ExploreGB was also an ideal opportunity for Tourism Ireland to highlight the British-Irish Visa …

The Heritage Council has announced it will allocate €700,000 to projects under its 2016 Heritage Management Grant Scheme. The grants are aimed at supporting projects that apply good heritage practice to the management of places, collections or objects, including buildings. Grant applications must be submitted on the Heritage Council’s online application system before 5pm on Monday, March 7. Heritage Council chief executive, Michael Starrett said, “The past number of years has brought many challenges to those working hard to preserve and promote Ireland’s heritage and to highlight its significance to people and their places. In that context, the Heritage Council is delighted to be able to offer some financial assistance to community-based heritage projects. These local projects are very important in protecting our heritage, as well as creating jobs and promoting local tourism. “The Heritage Council is only in a position to make these grants because of additional financial support given by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, Heather …