THE North Clare village of Lisdoonvarna is listed alongside the Chilean Atacama Desert, Australia’s Whitsunday Islands and the French Riviera in Lonely Planet’s
top 52 travel resolutions for 2014.
The world famous series of travel books has just released an ebook called Travel Resolutions, 52 New Ways to Experience Planet Earth and Lisdoonvarna and County Clare features at number three.
Publishers expect tens of thousands of copies of the free ebook to be downloaded over the coming year and businesses in the North Clare village say this could herald the start of a good year for tourism in the area.
Marcus White of the Hydro Hotel and one of the people behind this year’s gay and lesbian matchmaking festival, The Outing, describes the inclusion of Lisdoonvarna on the list as “fantastic”.
“We have noticed that since the end of last September, there has been an increase of bookings already for next year. That has never happened before. The economy is starting to turn and it is for the better. I expect 2014 in Lisdoonvarna to be a lot stronger and that is partly down to this kind of publicity,” he commented.
“This is giving Lisdoonvarna a wider audience, a worldwide audience really. In the past, a lot of people didn’t take the Matchmaking Festival too seriously but now it has become very famous. Lately, I think people have turned back to the old way of meeting people in person rather than dating sites and this kind of coverage is very positive for Lisdoonvara,” he said.
Lonely Planet’s team of travel experts handpicked their ultimate travel resolutions for 2014 in Travel Resolutions: 52 New Ways to Experience Planet Earth.
From learning to cook the Jordanian way in Wadi Musa, to mastering the ancient art of flower arranging in Kyoto, Japan; the eBook contains a different take on the classic New Year resolutions list, incorporating once-in-a-lifetime, off-the-beaten-track experiences.
“I think The Outing from last year has really helped Lisdoonvarna worldwide. It was featured in the media in San Francisco, in New York and in Asia and all of that helps promote the town and the festival. I suspect that someone from Lonely Planet saw some of this coverage and decided to put Lisdoonvarna on this list.
The people in Lisdoonvarna are delighted with this,” Mr White added.
Finding love or just dancing in Lisdoonvarna features at number three in the list. “Irish and even foreign singles (plus those who just enjoy a jolly good time) revel in daftness, drinking, merrymaking, music and much, much dancing,” the ebook states.
The ebook can be downloaded for free on e-readers and as a pdf from the Lonely Planet website.