8% increase in Cliffs visitor numbers

VISITOR numbers at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Attraction increased by 8% during 2012, according to figures released on Wednesday.
Visitor numbers hit 873,988 last year, representing an increase of almost 65,000 visitors on the overall figure for 2011. Most notably, there was a 17.7% increase in group visitors travelling to the site by coach.
Overall, 52% of all visitors during 2012 were fully independent travellers (FITs), who travelled to the site by car, 44% arrived by coach, while the remainder (4%) were walkers or cyclists.
North Clare hotelier and president of the Irish Hotel Federation, Michael Vaughan, welcomed the increase in group visitors to the attraction but said that unfortunately this is not having a ripple effect for other tourism businesses in the area.
“There is not enough spin-off custom for other business in Clare from the coach visitors to the Cliffs. We have not done enough to make people stay within the county,” he said.
“Part of that increase at the Cliffs of Moher is the emergence of the day trip from Galway and Dublin, which is now firmly part of the Cliffs business.
“One thing unveiled at the National Tourism Policy Conference in November is that the coach tourist is looking for more unique opportunities to deviate from the coach tour and take part in maybe a cycling tour or a food trail as well. We have the opportunity to develop a new tour that is part-touring and part-staying to explore the county and we need to work hard at that to attract more of these Cliffs of Moher visitors to stay and spend here,” Mr Vaughan added.
Katherine Webster, director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience said she is “delighted with the 2012 visitor number performance at a time when the wider tourism sector across Ireland and the world has experienced considerable difficulties. This achievement is a tribute to the staff of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience and the agencies that have made considerable investments in developing the attraction during recent years.”
“The challenge for us now is to explore new and innovative ways of attracting visitors to the Cliffs of Moher. Despite experiencing a second successive increase in visitors last year, we remain 7% below the attraction’s peak year of 2007,” Ms Webster added.