Tag Archives: Clare tourism

As the State exams drew to a close this week, Met Éireann issued a status yellow ‘high temperature warning’ for County Clare, with temperatures on Wednesday reaching between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius. According to Met Éireann, the maximum temperature recorded at the Shannon Airport weather station on Tuesday was 25.8 degrees Celsius. By midday on Wednesday, temperatures had already reached 24 degrees and the warm weather is forecast to remain into the weekend, with Thursday, Friday and Saturday to each hit 20 degrees, though there will be some cloud cover. This is not just good news for those out enjoying the fine weather but also for businesses here. “In Lahinch, every car parking space was filled,” Michael Vaughan, owner of Vaughan Lodge and former president of the Irish Hotels Federation, said on Wednesday afternoon. “I see people parked on verges and the beach is thronged, so there are plenty of visitors to the area but I am not certain …

CLARE is set to reap the benefits from Shannon Airport’s enhanced 2014 summer season schedule, with research on passenger destinations from last year illustrating the airport’s influence on visitor numbers to the county. Shannon Airport has nine new services this year on European destinations – Ryanair with Munich, Paris, Faro, Warsaw, Krakow, Nice, Poitiers, Berlin, Fuerteventura and Aer Lingus Regional with Bristol – alone, many with very strong markets for inbound tourism. Critically also, following the growth of transatlantic services last year, US frequencies have also dramatically increased this year, bringing greater numbers again of US tourists, who on average spend 60% more than any others, into Clare. The last two weeks alone saw the resumption of United Airline’s Chicago service (daily from June), which on the back of its success last summer will have 88% additional capacity this year.  The past fortnight also saw Delta Airlines back with its daily JFK New York service, US Airways return with its …

FIANNA Fáil TD for Clare and spokesperson on Tourism, Timmy Dooley has accused the Government of holding back funding for storm repairs in County Clare. Towns like Lahinch, Kilkee and Doolin were severely battered by Storm Darwin back in February and communities are now working on the restoration effort before the busy summer season. However, Deputy Doley said there are now concerns about the level of fundingbeing made available by the Office of Public Works. “This winter saw some of the most severe storms in recent history hit the west coast, damaging homes, businesses, roads and other essential infrastructure.  Since the end of February work has been underway to repair all the damage, however the Government funding of €16 million falls well short of the mark,” Deputy Dooley maintained. Clare County Council has estimated that the damage will cost almost €37 million to repair, but the Government has allocated less than half of that for the work. “Minister Hayes’ short-sightedness …

AN innovative approach to establishing County Clare as a welcoming visitor destination has picked up one of the top prizes at the annual LAMA Community and Council Awards 2014, in association with IPB Insurance. The Clare Tourism Forum ‘Clare says Céad Míle Fáilte’ campaign, which was nominated by Clare County Council, beat off competition from seven other shortlisted entries to win this year’s Best Tourism Initiative Award. Launched in early 2013, 152 tourism providers have signed up to the initiative which sees workers on the frontline of the hospitality sector undergo specific training to assist them in engaging better with visitors and welcoming them to the County. Mayor of Clare Councillor Joe Arkins welcomed the announcement, adding that it was a further sign that the Clare tourism sector collaborative approach to promoting the County as an attractive and welcoming destination. “For almost a decade the Clare Tourism Forum has been working closely with Clare’s tourism trade to market and promote …