Ballyvaughan tops national hotlist for online searches

Tourism in a North Clare village received a major boost last month with the number of people looking for accommodation increasing five-fold according to a recent report.

According to a ‘hotlist’ published by the booking website Hotels.com, the area in Ireland which saw the biggest jump in searches was Ballyvaughan.
The company said searches for homegrown destinations were on the up in June with Ballyvaughan, Douglas in Cork and Oughterard in Galway all experiencing a surge in searches compared to the same period in 2011.
The hotlist, which compares destinations experiencing the biggest growth in searches in June 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, reveals Ballyvaughan topped the poll in June with an increase of 498%, while Douglas was up 475% and Oughterard saw searches rise by 441%.
Business people in Ballyvaughan noticed a rise in occupancy levels and have attributed this to the large number of festivals and events taking place in the area during June.
According to Crona McDermott in the Hylands Burren Hotel, the local community has a particularly important role to play in attracting visitors to the area.
“Without a doubt the An Post Tour de Burren was a huge boost to the area, because the whole village was full and it was fantastic for business.  It is quieter when there is nothing on but the community of Ballyvaughan has arranged so much that there is always something going on during the summer so visitors are coming even now. The season started well and started early and we are looking forward to a great summer,” she stated.
Other Irish destinations which saw a rise in searches include the popular tourist town of Blarney (+365%), Carlingford in Louth was up 346%, Barna, County Galway (+310%) and the town of Rossnowlagh in Donegal up 265%.
“Since April, we have seen a steady increase in homegrown holiday destinations coming through on the hotlists,” said Kate Hopcraft from Hotels.com. “It appears that people are hoping to enjoy a holiday at home even though Ireland has been experiencing dismal weather of late.”
There has been a noticeable increase in bookings via search engines, according to Alan Logue of Logue’s Lodge Hotel.
“Internet bookings are going up. Hotels.com are one of the better ones. The increase we see is that the number of people using Hotels.com has gone up. New visitors to Ireland have gone up about 85% in June and returning visitors are up 15%. There is a massive increase in new visitors booking online through Hotels.com,” he commented.
“From the statistics from this booking engine alone, North Clare seems to be growing in popularity. This seems to be the trend. You had a lot on in North Clare with the Burren Marathon, the Tour de Burren, the Slow Food Festival in Lisdoonvarna and increased visitor numbers to the Cliffs of Moher.
“These factors are all contributing to the increase. It highlights the importance of holding events in the locality. People know what the impact is at the time but it is the return trade too, attracting people back to the area,” he added.