Travel and Explore with Joan Scales
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Irish Tourism for 2014, what we can expect - radio interview with Marian Finucane, Feb. 1, 2014

6/2/2014

0 Comments

 

http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!&detail=&rii=0%3A20517162%3A0%3A%3A
Click on link above to play
Going abroad on holidays has been to the forefront of our minds for the past month, but millions more of us holiday at home every year.  So what can we expect.....
The Gathering
Was a success with the best tourism year since 2008 with 6.986 million visitors and 7.2% increase and a strong finish for the end of the year. Visitors from the US were up by almost 14%.
The best part of the Gathering is the knock on effect. All the extra flights put in place last year are staying and new and extra flights have been added i.e. San Francisco, Toronto (3 airlines) United go double daily to New York, Every day there will be 25 flights per day into Ireland and 26 flights a  week from Canada.
At least two dozen new flights into Ireland from Europe will bring thousands of people in as well as giving us plenty of more places to go.  Shannon is really benefiting from Ryanair’s commitment to support the airport and has turned the corner and headed back into growth.
What this means for domestic tourism is pressure on accommodation.  If you are planning of taking holidays at home, booking early is going to be important.  Most visitors do stay in hotels. 
Giro d’Italia   -The Grande Partenza
200 of the world’s top cyclists will begin the famous race in Belfast on May 9 with two stages in Northern Ireland, one around the city of Belfast and then around the Causeway Coast, then to Armagh.  From there they come south through Dundalk, Castlebellingham, and Drogheda to take part in stages around Dublin city on May 11, lots of places for people to watch the race.
Wild Atlantic Way
We have been hearing about the Wild Atlantic Way for the past year but it is now a reality. 2,500 kms of the Irish coast have been signposted to draw you into discovering the longest coastal drive in the world. From Inishowen to Kinsale, the route has 159 discovery points with 15 signature discovery points such as Malin Head, Sliabh Liag, Keel Beach, Killary Fjord,Cliffs of Moher, Loop Head, Dursey Island, Mizen Head etc. the Miradors as they call them in Spain.  The route joins with the Causeway Coast at Derry and takes you all the way back into Belfast.
There a great booklet you can download, 50 Secrets of the Wild Atlantic Way, which has ideas of things to do from local people.
Festivals and fun
Ireland is famous for its festivals and this year is no different there are hundreds planned all over the country and for all types of fun.  The season already kicked off with the Temple Bar TradFest last week.  What I love about the festivals is that they are about Irish people having fun together and visitors are lucky if they stumble upon a festival.   See a list on discoverireland.ie there really is something for everyone from film buffs, book addicts, music lovers, dancers, walkers, talkers, surfers, cyclists, leprechaun hunters. 
Dublin as a destination
The Grow Dublin Tourism is a taskforce that is going to develop tourism to Dublin from outside and within the country.  It’s a long term plan over the next six years but each year there will be more and more investment in the city.  One of the newest investment announced this week is the plan for the establishment of the Teeling Distillery in the Liberties, where whiskey making was a local industry at one stage there were dozens fo distilleries in the city, not to mentions the dozens of shebeens..  The Guinness Storehouse has passed more than a million visitors every year.  The Teeling Distillery will open later this year and to visitors early next year.
Croke Park Classic
American Football game University of Florida vs Penn State on August 30 will be a chance for 80,000 odd people to see the best of US college football.
Value for Money
World’s Best bargain hotel is Castlewood House in Dingle as voted by  Tripadvisor’s Travellers Choice. The exit survey of visitors has seen  Ireland most from 29% in 2009 to 49% in 2013 in the Value for Money stakes.
Fairy trails
Not everything has to cost money and if you are in the Kerry area this year, why not visit the Fairy Trail in the Derrynane Woods.  Local lady Ginny Darrer, has a passion for fairies and she has placed little fairy houses around the woods for people to discover.  She has also made fairy trails in the woods at Parknasilla and at Adare Manor. See her Facebook Page, fairy trails of Ireland and irishfairytrails.com.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Joan loves to travel, write about, hear about it, see it, talk about it, anything about travel.

    Archives

    September 2022
    January 2021
    July 2018
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Fairy Tree At The Hill Of Tara
    NI2012.com
    Northern Ireland
    Titanic

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Images_of_Money, torbakhopper, Sean MacEntee, ~ Lone Wadi ~, piropiro3, Capt' Gorgeous, shahin olakara, Robert S. Donovan, Tyler Merbler, dsearls, Edmond Wells, VnGrijl, Andy_Mitchell_UK, Martin Pettitt, abbilder, Rushen!, piet theisohn, markhillary, Moyan_Brenn, Nite_Owl, EaglebrookSchool, GranniesKitchen, Dark Dwarf, davosmith, bigpresh, wellingtonstravel, National Institutes of Health (NIH), dsearls, Marc Wathieu, DncnH, Sean Pritchard, breezy421, QuidoX, Rafael Gomez-http://micamara.es/, philwirks, redlegsfan21