Older tourists with spending power

TOURISTS in Lahinch are getting older, it is claimed, as emigration takes its toll on visitors to the North Clare resort. This could well account for the fact that an increase of up to 30% in visitors to Kilkee this summer compares to a more modest 3% increase in Lahinch.

 

Kilkee business representatives have mixed reports in terms of the extent of tourism spend in the town, while the influx of people to Lahinch during the exceptionally good weather was not matched by a corresponding rise in revenue. Overall, the North Clare resort has seen a decrease in spending.

As the summer season draws to a close, Irish Hotels Federation president, Michael Vaughan said there has been a change in the demographic of visitors to the Lahinch area.  The local hotelier noted a rise in the number of retired people visiting and a marked decrease in the number of young people coming to the resort for weekends.

“From looking around, I would say there are a lot more visitors in the over 55 age group or active retirement groups. Of course, they are the people who have some money to spend at the moment. There are definitely less younger holidaymakers. They seem to have emigrated. Emigration has taken its toll on the younger, partying-type tourists that would have come to the village in the past. Emigration is definitely a factor,” he said.

Mr Vaughan pointed out the good weather during July brought an influx of people to Lahinch but this has not been matched by a corresponding rise in revenue.

“By and large, visitors to the area are up on previous years but not much more than 2% to 3% overall for the summer. The high season has been good, especially July and August but the earlier part of the season was down. There were lots of families here over the summer and I think surf schools did well but, anecdotally, the spend is down. Lots of day-trippers are bringing their own picnics, say whereas before they would have had their lunch in pubs or restaurants locally. There are people coming to Lahinch but they are on a budget. Admission at attractions is good but the spend is not as high as it used to be and that has to be expected. The earlier start to the school term will mean that the season will get quieter more quickly,” he said.

Mr Vaughan stated a further development in the county this year is that Ennis is emerging as “a touring base for Clare”.

“More people are opting to stay in the urban areas or larger towns because there is more to do there in the evenings for families. People in the county involved in coach tours have had a tremendous year. They normally drop by about 25% of the amount booked but, this year, most tours made their full numbers, which was great news for Ennis hotels,” he commented.

“Most business people are satisfied with the season and that is not a bad place to be in the current climate,” he concluded.

In relation to Kilkee, local restaurateur and Loop Head Tourism chairman, Cillian Murphy, said they had a lot of foreign independent travellers.  “We’ve seen a lot of Swiss and, for the first time ever, we’ve seen a lot of people from the Nordic countries. Last year we had a lot of Italians.

“Every business sector is different. In the restaurant we would be down in numbers but what we found is that people are spending more per person. We’re not dealing with as many people but turnover is up,” he said.

Kilkee Chamber secretary Paul Williams said visitor numbers have risen but it has not been reflected in a significant increase in revenue.

“People are talking about an increase of 20 to 30% in visitors. That’s the feedback I got. Although there is no way of saying how much exact figures are up or down because there is no way of counting tourists or day trippers, I think it’s fair to say that numbers are up but the spend isn’t. People are still watching what they spend but there’s a lot more people in Kilkee compared to last year. The beach was packed on many days and there was plenty of people about in the street,” he said.

“Businesses were reporting that, although they were physically very busy, people weren’t spending what they used to spend in the past. But certainly it was an improvement on the last couple of years. You have to measure it against what probably would have happened if we hadn’t had the good summer we had. I think it improved things but, again, if people simply don’t have the money they are not going to spend, whether there’s sunshine or if it’s snowing. We had a very poor May and June. We’re hoping for a good finish in August. We can have a few people in Kilkee right up until the October Bank Holiday weekend if they weather is decent,” Mr Williams added.

Meanwhile, Loop Head had the attention of a worldwide audience at the weekend when a group of amateur ham radio operators from Limerick, Clare, Kerry and Tipperary successfully managed to make contact from the lighthouse with 350 other radio clubs in 63 countries.

The Limerick Radio Club broadcast non-stop for 48 hours from the West Clare lighthouse as part of the 16th International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW).

Gerard Dollard, director of services with Clare County Council, described the event as a “wonderful way to connect and promote the shared maritime heritage of countries throughout the world”.

During the broadcast, visitors to the lighthouse were able to listen into communications with some of the other participating ham radio operators broadcasting from other lighthouses and lightships as far away as Brazil, Australia, Tonga, French Guiana, Asiatic Russia, Ecuador, The Azores and the US Virgin Islands. The majority of all radio contacts were made with operators in the US (200), Germany (155) and Italy (76); 61% of overall communication was conducted via radio with the remaining 39% conducted via Morse code.

“The weekend was hugely successful from the perspective of raising the profile of Loop Head Lighthouse amongst radio operators from all over the world. We are delighted with the huge number of successful contacts made and look forward to developing our newly established relationships with other radio clubs in the coming months,” Simon Kenny of the Limerick Radio Club commented.

“We consolidated and forged new friendships with our twinned club in South Jersey. They also responded to our attempt to communicate with them, while using the moon as a reflector. The conditions were not favourable for such an attempt but we learned a lot. It’s the first time that the Limerick Radio Club has made such attempts and, hopefully, the next time will be successful – from Loop Head,” he added.

Clare County Council, along and the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL), facilitated the broadcast, with approval from the Communications Regulator.