Major Ennis festival a must for tourism

A SENIOR figure in Clare tourism has called for a singular body to promote tourism in the county and for a new festival “of magnitude” to take place in Ennis to attract a national audience.
Michael Vaughan, chairman of the Shannon branch of the Irish Hotel Federation, made the calls after what he called a “disappointing” summer season in which tourist numbers in Clare dropped by up to 10%.
“This summer, I’d say, most people would be struggling. Most people are seeing a drop of between 5% and 10% on last year’s figures. Coach tours in particular haven’t been as strong as other years. The volume of tourists coming through Shannon from the States would not have matched previous year’s figures. This is particularly prevalent in the lower end of the market with guesthouses, B&Bs and three-star hotels feeling the pinch. Where you really see it is that lots of places are not employing the full quota of seasonal employees that they would have in previous years, especially in resorts,” the Lahinch hotelier claimed.
While the August Bank Holiday weekend offered one day extra trade, it did not make up for what has been a dismal summer for many Clare tourism businesses, Mr Vaughan said.
“One of the phenomena of this year’s season would be that areas need festivals and activities to bring business in, more so than previously, and a problem that we have in Clare particularly now is when you get a large festival like the Galway Races and the Irish Open in Killarney in the same breath, we get squeezed in the middle and people gravitate towards the big events,” he said.
“I think Ennis needs a festival of magnitude going forward. I’m sure it is something that tourism interests in the county will be discussing in the long months ahead,” the hotelier added.
“The thing that is exercising us all at the moment is what sort of festival? You have the music festivals with the Feakle festival and the Willie Clancy festival but I think it needs to be something that would be of interest to Irish people then it can be promoted overseas. One idea would be to have a gathering festival where the diaspora around the world would return for clan reunions.
“Here in Clare, I think we can lay claim to the McMahons, O’Briens and the McNamaras but we have to lay claim quickly and produce a cohesive plan. I for one would be calling on all the tourist bodies to unify and combine for the greater good of the county at this stage. We have too many factional interests, if we could only amalgamate the Clare Tourist Forum and the Clare Tourist Council, then we might get one organisation that would be a serious force for tourism,” he continued.
He was critical of the lack of promotion of the county nationally, saying “we are reaping the rewards of that lack of investment”.
Mr Vaughan said tourists are, more and more, using Galway or Kerry as a base and travelling to Clare on day trips instead of staying overnight. He added that road infrastructure improvements linking Dublin to Galway meant Galway had become the hub for tourists visiting the West of Ireland.
Weather too played a role in the decreased numbers of visitors to the county this year.
“Overall, the summer has been quite disappointing particularly in Clare where the weather affected us quite a bit. People’s stays in the resorts have been shorter than would be expected in a good summer,” Mr Vaughan commented.
This view was echoed by Councillor Martin Conway from Ennistymon and Councillor Richard Nagle who is a member of the Clare Tourism Forum.
Chairperson of the Clare Tourism Forum, Rebecca Brew of Crotty’s Bar, Restaurant and B&B in Kilrush, said she does not believe Clare Tourist Forum and Clare Tourist Council do the same job and should be amalgamated.
“I hate multiplicity of function. It isn’t the time for this sort of thing but there isn’t any sense in one taking away from the other,” she stated.
“Clare Tourist Forum is unique across the country because it represents the interests of both the public and private sector. We have the council on board and Shannon Development, the attractions, the B&Bs, the hotels, the water sports people. It has often been the weak link trying to source the activity so we are doing a lot on that side so that people can access their activity when booking their trip,” she added.
Ms Brew felt that in the case of her own business, July figures were up 5% on last year.