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Tag Archives: tourism

United front needed to fight domestic tourism battle

With international travel effectively grounded, those involved in the tourism sector in Clare will find themselves in a dogfight with established tourist centres like Killarney and Kilkenny for their slice of the domestic market. Tourism consultant Cillian Murphy believes that the whole tourism year in Clare will hinge on the domestic market and there should be a unified approach between all the stakeholders so that Clare is able to compete. However, he also feels that Clare will be fighting an uphill battle in consequence of Shannon Heritage’s decision to “lock up shop” and close its major tourist attractions from the end of August. “There’s only the one game in town and that is the domestic market. I’d imagine we will see some bit of business from Northern Ireland and maybe the UK. But inconsequential is how I would label international travel this year,” he suggests. Tourism interests in Clare will have to bring their A game in their endeavours to …

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New figures reveal threat to Clare tourism jobs

ALMOST 9,000 jobs in hospitality and tourism in Clare are at immediate risk, with the sector braced for what industry leaders are calling “an impending disaster”. While hotels and pubs serving food are set to re-open from next Monday, representative groups are concerned about the chances of salvaging the 2020 season. An industry briefing for Clare, prepared for the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), reveals that 8,800 jobs are at risk in 2020. The figure represents close to 75% of all jobs in the industry in Clare, and the same percentage of the total revenue the sector generates for the county. “Up until recently, tourism and hospitality across Clare supported 12,000 jobs and generated €266 in revenues annual for the local economy,” the IHF briefing stated. “We are now facing a deepening crisis with 8,800 tourism jobs at risk across Clare and local tourism revenues estimated to drop by €200 million as businesses fight for survival,” Responding to the figures, North …

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Painting the Falls in reopening countdown

THERE’S been something of a silver lining for the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon since the Covid-19 restrictions imposed on the construction and hardware sector were lifted almost two weeks ago. “Were able to hire a cherry picker and go ahead with the outside painting ourselves. Myself and my brother, John took it on and our father, Dan looked after the lower bits. It was no bother and it saved us a fair bit of money,” said the hotel’s general manager. Michael is passing on the opportunity to partially reopen the Falls on June 29, when the lockdown will be further relaxed to allow cafés and restaurants providing on-premises food and drink operate, where they can comply with social distancing measures and have strict cleaning in operation He said they are planning to reopen on July 20 but are awaiting details of regulations that will impact how the hotel operates. Meanwhile, he’s happy to report that the reservation desk has been …

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Need to plan for the worst in West Clare

IT is time to plan to head off the worst effects of the loss of a huge amount of tourism business from West Clare, according to Councillor Cillian Murphy. Ahead of a meeting of West Clare Municipal District councillors on Thursday, he compiled an analysis of the relative importance of tourism in the county’s various municipal districts, showing that the impact on West Clare could be particularly severe. “The most at-risk sectors are those that are dealing with the public, that have high levels of personal contact. If you look at where our rates base is in the county, you see what the potential impact is for the county,” he said. Councillor Murphy said that the consequences of losing a season are very severe, while he said many areas of tourism are concentrated in the west of the county. “There are no caravan parks in any other municipal district, apart from West Clare. If you look at pubs, hostels, guesthouses …

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Post-Covid ‘staycation’ hopes for East Clare tourism

TOURISM operators in East Clare have said they remain cautiously optimistic in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 lock-down, which has brought the sector to a standstill for now. The season would normally begin around Easter, and tourism providers are currently coping with a raft of cancelled tour bookings, as well as the shelving of key events and activities. Hope is being drawn, however, from the anticipated demand for ‘staycation’ breaks once the restrictions on movement are lifted, and from the development of key projects including the River Shannon Tourism Master Plan 2020-2030, which is currently in draft form and open for public submissions. “A good season in East Clare would be starting around Easter,” noted Arlene White, Chairperson of Tourism East Clare. “What we are now seeing instead is the cancellation of bookings for months ahead. It’s very tough for everyone, but we understand the need for the restrictions and we are hoping that 2020 won’t be a complete …

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“The graph is going uphill” Huge demand to visit Cliffs

THERE is huge demand to visit the Cliffs of Moher, which actually exceeds the capacity of the existing infrastructure, Clare County Council members were told at a special briefing on Monday. Celebrity businessman and broadcaster Bobby Kerr is part of the Cliffs of Moher board, as is Geraldine Enright, and the two spoke to the membership. “We believe the Cliffs of Moher is an absolute success story; locally, nationally and internationally,” said Mr Kerr. He said that back in 2007, there were 927,000 visitors to the attraction but by 2019, the figure had gone up to 1.6 million. However, Mr Kerr said that the increase “brings its own challenges”. He said the attraction needs to be sustainable, both environmentally and economically, and that it is still getting busier. “The graph is going uphill and more and more people will want to visit the Cliffs of Moher,” he added. He said that Ennis hotelier Allen Flynn recently visited the Galápagos Islands …

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Night falls in Bourton-on-the-Water with the Christmas tree in the background.

Cracking Christmas in the Cotswolds

Just before Christmas my humans took me for my regular Christmas trip to Dublin and I was excited to meet all my friends in Mutt Ugly doggy day care and to take a trip around town to see the lights. Although I didn’t get to see the moving crib this year, I was smuggled into a lovely pub off Grafton Street and when the barman finally spotted me, he came over with a bowl of water so I took it that I was in the clear. It helps to be cute. The following morning I got us all up very early as I had a surprise for my humans. On my trawls through the world wide woof, I’d come across a company called Pets Pyjamas, who specialise in doggy holidays and I’d used my bone allowance to book us all Christmas in the Cotswolds. I directed them through the dark streets of Dublin (one woof for left, two woofs for …

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Council launches Clare 2020 calendar

THE newly formed Tourism Department of Clare County Council has launched, Experience Clare, a 2020 scenic calendar.  The calendar is specifically targeted at overseas markets and trade shows.  It is a business-to-business tourism promotional tool that will help drive business into Clare. It should be noted that the calendar is not intended for distribution to the general public, since it is targeted at overseas markets and domestic trade shows. Most copies are being sent abroad to drum up tourism business for Clare. Deirdre O’Shea, newly appointed Head of Tourism explained: “We can all be very proud of our county as presented in this calendar. It promotes Clare on a worldwide stage and the calendars are being distributed through Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland, tour operators and Holiday World Trades shows in both Dublin and Limerick”. Joan Tarmey, Tourism Officer with Clare County Council advised that “it is wonderful to see that good use is being made of images and video footage of the Banner …

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