Tourism businesses hopeful for June Bank Holiday

Last weekend’s dull weather failed to brighten up tourism prospects in North and West Clare, according to the Irish Hotel Federation president, Michael Vaughan. While numbers were up on Easter, the May Bank Holiday weekend failed to ignite the tourism season. Now, businesses are pinning their hopes on the June Bank Holiday weekend in just over three weeks’ time.
“In Lahinch, I would say there were good numbers of visitors but this was the first weekend there was good business around. People would have thought it better than Easter for sure but further up the coast, in places like Ballyvaughan, there was some business but not as strong,” Mr Vaughan commented.
“There were lots of day trippers in Kilkee and Lahinch and businesses were quite positive about that. I think the tourist season has definitely started and we would all be hopeful that with a bit of good weather, we might go well going forward,” he added.
According to the Lahinch hotelier, not all tourism businesses received a boost from the increase in visitor numbers.
“The B&Bs would have been complaining perhaps that the hotel rates were pretty low and that might have displaced some of their business but most hotels I spoke to were pretty happy. The May Bank Holiday would never have been as strong as the June Bank Holiday so people are looking forward to that now,” he said.
Anecdotally, there has been an increase in the number of British tourists to North Clare, according to the Lahinch hotelier.
“It has been noticeable and has been commented on, that there are quite a lot of British-registered cars on the road, particularly around the Burren.
“That is something we haven’t seen in a while and some smaller businesses like teashops and restaurants have opened a bit earlier than normal this year.
“Hopefully, that is because there is more business but it could be that they are desperate for cash.
“Overall though, I think it is always great to see places opening slightly earlier because it means the tourist season in the county can be prolonged,” Mr Vaughan commented.