FÁILTE Ireland has this week published a comprehensive set of reports capturing holidaymakers’ views of Ireland, including a survey on County Clare.
The Fáilte Ireland Holidaymaker Study 2013 analysed the views of nearly 10,000 overseas and domestic holidaymakers, who visited 11 holiday areas across the country between May to October 2013. Visitors explained why they chose a certain destination, how they researched their trip and sourced their information as well as where they stayed, where they chose to eat and what attractions they visited.
Of those surveyed, 64% said they would recommend Clare as a tourist destination and of those, 76% recommend it because of its “beautiful scenery and countryside”, while 51% said they would recommend it because of its nice and friendly people.
It was the friendliness of local people which stood out most to tourists in their overall experience and the county earned a score of 4.78 out of 5 for this. A close second was its natural environment and landscape, which scored 4.73 out of 5, while overall value for money scored 4.07 out of 5.
The majority of visitors either hired a car (41%) or used their own car (35%) to get around and transport within Clare was rated at 2.03 out of 5, with transport to and from Clare the second lowest rating at 2.60 out of 5.
Hotels were the leading source of accommodation in all regions, with B&Bs putting in strong performances in the Dingle peninsula, the Ring of Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo and West Cork.
Caeman Wall, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Research, stressed the importance of surveys like this towards the future development of Ireland’s tourism sector.
“If we want to continue to attract more overseas visitors to Ireland, tourism needs to be ‘visitor-centric’ and based around what they think, what they like and what they want. Tourism is having a good year and is enjoying impressive growth but we can’t become complacent. If we are to ensure that the current growth rates are sustainable, we need to ensure we are providing the right type of holiday experiences – particularly for our overseas markets. In that respect, research like this is a valuable help to all of us in the sector as we continue to develop and improve Ireland’s tourism offering,” he said.
To view full details of the study visit www.failteireland.ie/Research-Insights.aspx
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.