Tag Archives: tourism

TOURISM Ireland’s 2014 series of ‘Jump into Ireland’ sales blitzes across the United States kicked off recently – in Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa and Sarasota in Florida. Together with a delegation of Irish tourism companies, including Vaughan Lodge, Lahinch, Tourism Ireland will once again ‘pound the pavements’ in the all-important American market this year – targeting hundreds of travel agents and influential journalists in key cities. The recent sales blitz involved a busy schedule of B2B events, which included a brand new 60-minute TV show format highlighting Ireland to the influential American audience, as well as networking sessions with travel and lifestyle journalists – providing an excellent opportunity for the tourism partners from Ireland to showcase and sell their product to the key decision-makers they met in the various cities. Tourism Ireland also took the opportunity to introduce the Wild Atlantic Way to the travel agents and journalists attending the sessions in Atlanta, Tampa and Sarasota. Similar ‘Jump into Ireland’ events …

TOURISM Ireland, together with various Irish tourism enterprises, including Clare Tourism Forum and Shannon Heritage, mounted a major presence at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, to target the increasing number of Americans interested in visiting gardens in Ireland. The Philadelphia Flower Show is the world’s largest indoor flower and horticultural exhibition, attracting about 265,000 visitors each year; an ideal platform to showcase Ireland and the wonderful mix of unique gardens to be found here. This year, the centrepiece of the Tourism Ireland stand was a special garden exhibit called The Wild Atlantic Way. Modelled on Ireland’s newest visitor experience, the space featured a replica of the Poulnabrone dolmen and was designed to bring the wild landscape of our western seaboard to life for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the show.    

THREE weeks after Storm Darwin resulted in serious damage to the seawall and the Strand Line in Kilkee, the damage is still evident on the seafront. The issue was raised at this week’s West Clare Electoral Area meeting by Councillor Patrick Keane, who asked for a report on what he called “the sinking Strand Line road,” in Kilkee. Loop Head Tourism chairman and Kilkee business man, Cillian Murphy has also expressed concern at the state of the Strand Line, comparing it to a war zone. “I’m standing here looking at a hole that has been dug out of the pavilion in front of the Esplanade. It must be 30 feet by 40 feet. There was a small breach but the sea is after widening the breach and sucking everything out from underneath it. A load of concrete would have shuttered up the front of it and prevented further damage,” Cillian Murphy suggested. “From the esplanade down as far as the …

TOURISM is one of the main drivers of the Clare economy and in the North Clare region the Burren plays a pivotal role in this sector. Next Wednesday night, an information and network event will be held to showcase the activities, adventures, food and heritage of the Burren Region. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark, in conjunction with the Burren Ecotourism Network, will host The Burren Tourism Story 2014, at the Pavilion, Lisdoonvarna from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The event will feature information stands, food tastings, the launch of the Burren’s first adventure and activities trail, and guest presentations from author and green business lecturer Prof. Finbarr Bradley; head of programmes and delivery Fáilte Ireland, Fiona Monaghan and award-winning travel writer and journalist, Pól O’Conghaile. Tina O’Dwyer, sustainable tourism co-ordinator, Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark explained that the primary purpose of the upcoming event will be to highlight the variety and quality of visitor attractions and activities on offer …

CLARE  is ideally placed to succeed in an entry for the European Entrepreneurial Region Award according to MEP Sean Kelly, who has raised the matter in the European Parliament.  High profile tourism attractions such as the Burren and Cliffs of Moher could gain benefit from such an award, he noted. Speaking in the Parliament, the Fine Gael MEP said Clare would be a worthy recipient of the award which is designed to recognise regions that facilitate entrepreneurialism through forward thinking and sustainable governance. “Kerry is the county I come from and it received the European Entrepreneurial Region Award in 2011. Clare is another county, which could benefit hugely from such an award. Clare is home to some of the finest tourist attractions in the world – the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren. And, of course, there is Shannon Airport and the aerospace sector, which have the potential to generate jobs,” he said. Mr Kelly said the new EU COSME programme could …

THE response of the local communities in assisting their neighbours in need, as well as those in public services who have been working to deal with the aftermath of recent storms, was lauded by Tanáiste Eamon Gilmore at the 25th annual tourism conference in Ennistymon over the weekend. “This Government has responded to the severe weather damage, making €70m available for a pprogramme of repair and remediation works in the areas affected. This is in addition to the €25m announced for the Department of Social Protection’s Humanitarian Assistance Schemes. We are currently awaiting an assessment from local authorities of what is required to deal with damage from the latest storms to hit these shores. “As well as dealing with the consequences of the recent weather, the OPW are looking at what is required for the future in the way of additional coastal defences; flood protection works and a national flood warning system. They will be reporting back to Government on …

THE Irish Hotels Federation is calling on Leaving Certificate students to consider a future in tourism. President of the IHF, Michael Vaughsan said that there are excellent career opportunities within the tourism and hospitality sector, particularly for skilled and qualified employees looking to progress rapidly to management roles. He noted that by now students throughout the country will have submitted their CAO applications. However, over the coming weeks, thousands will continue to examine their course options further and many will opt to avail of the change of Course facility, which is available up until March 1. Commenting on the career opportunities in the sector, the Lahinch hotelier said, “The outlook for Irish tourism is very positive and there are many exciting opportunities for anyone beginning a career in the sector. We’re experiencing strong growth with trips to Ireland up significantly over the last 12 months and this is having a direct impact on employment.” There are a large number of …

IRELAND had a record year for visitors from North America in 2013 and it was also the best year for overseas tourism since 2008, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar confirmed today. The CSO Overseas Tourism figures show that a total of 6.986m overseas visits were recorded last year, representing an increase of 7.2% on the 2012 figure.  The total number of visits from North America amounted to 1.158m, which exceeded the previous record set in 2008, and represented an increase of 13.9% on the 2012 figure.  All of Ireland’s main overseas markets grew in 2013 compared to 2012; the number of visits from Great Britain grew by 5.6%; visits from Mainland Europe grew by 4.9% while there was also strong growth of 15.1% from other long-haul markets. “Last year was a record year for visitors from North America and the best for overall tourism since 2008. The Gathering was enormously successful in generating additional visitor numbers. The …