Free rail scheme on track for older visitors
16/03/2010
A free rail scheme, developed by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Iarnród Éireann, has been finalised and now is available for all over 66s visiting Ireland.
The scheme, announced by the Government as part of Budget 2010 last December, is designed to increase overseas visitor numbers to Ireland.
From today, overseas visitors aged 66 or over can reserve free rail travel by accessing www.discoverireland.com or calling a local LoCall number to arrange for a Golden Trekker Reservation, which can be used to book their free Golden Trekker Tickets when in Ireland.
The Golden Trekker Tickets will take the form of a four-day Trekker ticket, or a sequence of 4-day tracker tickets depending on the length of stay, providing visitors with unrestricted rail travel for a set period. Each 4-day trekker ticket is worth €100.
The design of the scheme mimics the terms of the free-travel scheme available to Irish senior citizens aged 66 and over. Accordingly, the scheme provides for free travel to all tourists to Ireland aged 66 and over, and there is no restriction on nationality or country of residence.
Welcoming the initiative, Redmond O’Donoghue, Chairman of Fáilte Ireland said –
“Extending Ireland’s free rail travel arrangements to our international visitors is a very encouraging and constructive development. It will help strengthen the appeal of Ireland amongst some visitors and Fáilte Ireland believes it will pay dividends to Irish tourism longer-term.”
“Our experience of working with Iarnród Éireann in putting this scheme in place has been a very positive one and we would like to acknowledge their help and active support in helping to finalise arrangements in time for this year’s tourist season.”
On behalf of Iarnród Éireann, Dick Fearn, Chief Executive, said:
“We are pleased to play our part in this important initiative to give tourism in Ireland a strong boost in this difficult time, and commend Fáilte Ireland for the speed and simplicity of the process established for overseas tourists to avail of this scheme. As well as providing tourists with rail travel facilities, they will also benefit from the unique perspective our network gives of the beautiful Irish countryside.”
You can see an example of how the scheme is being publicised online overseas at this link.
ENDS
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