Tag Archives: tourism

Representatives of Clare County Council met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland in New York over  St Patrick’s weekend. They were briefed on Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme for 2017, which is in full swing right now. Tourism Ireland aims to build on the success of 2016, which was the fourth record-breaking year in a row for Irish tourism from the United States. Tourism Ireland is prioritising North America this year, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure. Our important ‘culturally curious’ and ‘social energiser’ audiences are being targeted with distinctive vacation experiences, events and special offers tailored to their interests. Tourism Ireland is creating ‘stand out’ for the island of Ireland in the US, highlighting experiences like the Wild Atlantic Way, the Causeway Coastal Route and Ireland’s Ancient East. Promotions aim to grow travel to the regions of Ireland, during the shoulder and off-peak seasons. With the recent announcement …

The role played by three local authorities, including Clare County Council, in developing and promoting tourism in the Lough Derg region has received official recognition at the 2017 Irish Tourism Industry Awards. The Lough Derg Marketing Group (LDMG) was named Best Local Authority Tourism Initiative at an event in Dublin on Friday night attended by Minister for Tourism Shane Ross. The Lough Derg Marketing Group was set up to develop Lough Derg as a key visitor destination. Its membership includes Clare County Council, Tipperary County Council, Galway County Council, Waterways Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland, community development organisations, and business and trade representatives. The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC), the umbrella group for the tourism industry in Ireland, organises the Irish Tourism Industry Awards in conjunction with Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. Designed with the intention of rewarding innovation and excellence in tourism, 14 winners were selected from approximately 250 entries.

Fáilte Ireland has revealed plans to win €157 million in business tourism for Ireland in 2017. To do so, businesses in the sector will be supported to convert a significant amount of international corporate, incentive and association conference business leads from a €330 million pool of good possibilities identified by the tourism authority. The Fáilte Ireland plans were delivered at a top level industry briefing for people in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) sector, in Dublin. Attendees, including representatives from the Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau, heard that the tourism authority will this year identify 550 leads for industry partners – a 10% increase on 2016. Paul Keeley, director of business development, emphasised the importance and strength of the business tourism and events sector in Ireland. “The generation of leads with the potential to secure conference business that delivers a higher number of delegates per conference, and therefore greater economic value, is the central focus for Fáilte …

THE latest Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) quarterly barometer showed that hotel and guesthouse owners in Clare and across the country are very optimistic about 2017, after significant growth this year. Nine in 10 IHF members say they saw increased business in 2016, while 57% grew their workforce and some 89% have plans to reinvest in their properties in 2017. Also, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of overseas visitors grew by 10% to 8.8 million – the highest number on record. There was an increase of 10% in holiday visitors, while business visitors and those coming to visit friends and relatives were up 12%. Elaine Fitzgerald Kane, chair of the Shannon branch of the IHF, said there has been a lot to be positive about. “Irish tourism has seen a record-breaking year in 2016 and there is a lot to celebrate. This is an outstanding achievement and a result of the hard work being carried out by …

A new ferry operator has been appointed to Scattery Island and the new service will commence next May. West Coast Marine, based at Kilrush Marina boatyard, has been awarded the contract as the exclusive service providers to the island and will introduce a regular scheduled service with multiple departures daily . West Coast Marine, was launched in April this year by Kilrush natives Irene Griffin and her business partner Gerard Hamilton. The new ferry service, called Scattery Island Tours, will operate a minimum of three scheduled trips daily with increased runs expected in the peak summer months. The service will depart from Kilrush Marina through a dedicated ticket sales office located to the side of the existing marina building. Historically, access to the island has been affected by low tides, however, the new service will use a specially designed shallow draught passenger vessel, which will offer increased access to the island throughout the day. Irene Griffin of West Coast Marine …

Two new touring routes, branching off the Wild Atlantic Way, have been launched by Minister of State for Tourism Patrick O’Donovan, as part of a new pilot scheme from Fáilte Ireland to encourage visitors to discover the variety of inland visitor experiences as they travel along the Wild Atlantic Way. The Shannon Estuary Drive and the Burren Drive are the first in a series of drives to be developed adjacent to the Wild Atlantic Way with additional routes planned for later next year. Welcoming the initiative to broaden visitor activity in the west, Minister O’Donovan said, “As the Wild Atlantic Way continues to grow three years since its launch, we can now start to develop additional experiences for visitors to enjoy and, vitally, through initiatives like this we can start to plan for a more even spread of visitors across the West of Ireland.” These new touring routes will incorporate existing sites in the wider geography adjacent to the Wild …

A delegation of 19 tourism enterprises, including the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, undertook a three-city trade and media blitz to the west coast of the United States last week. Thirteen Irish tourism companies and six American tour operators met influential travel agents and tour operators in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle, as part of Tourism Ireland’s 2017 promotions. California is now the second largest and fast-growing market within the United States for tourism to the island of Ireland. The sales blitz coincided with the announcement by Aer Lingus that its Los Angeles-Dublin flight will become a daily service for summer 2017. This is in addition to the Aer Lingus San Francisco-Dublin flight and Ethiopian Airlines’ service from Los Angeles. The ‘Jump into Ireland’ events were also an ideal opportunity to remind the American travel professionals that it’s now easier than ever before to get to the island of Ireland from the west coast of the US. Alison Metcalfe, …

Over 40 British leading meetings and events professionals enjoyed a flavour of the Mid-West, at the annual ‘Ireland Meets the West End’ gathering in London this week. The B2B event saw the buyers meet, and do business with, some 33 tourism businesses from Ireland, including the Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau. ‘Ireland Meets the West End’ is organised by Tourism Ireland in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland, to grow business tourism from Britain to the island of Ireland. It proved to be a valuable opportunity for the Irish companies to showcase and sell their product for 2017 and to communicate what is unique about Ireland as a world-class destination for doing business. David Boyce, Tourism Ireland’s deputy head of Great Britain, said, “Business tourism is an important, high yield sector and Tourism Ireland has undertaken a busy programme of activity throughout 2016, to grow this type of tourism. Our promotions have been highlighting our world-class venues …