Press Releases - 2011
16/12/2011
Eleven of Dublin’s pubs are leading the way for Quality Assurance after being assessed, and approved, under Fáilte Ireland’s national standards scheme for pubs across the country, Raising the Bar. The pubs each received their certificate of recognition at a recent event in The Dropping Well, Milltown, proving they truly deliver on the customer journey.
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04/12/2011
The award winning Great Western Greenway in County Mayo is proving to be a real success story for Irish tourism following the release of new figures by Fáilte Ireland. The national tourism authority, who funded over a third of the development project, today announced that the cycling and walking facility is set to contribute to a projected economic impact of €6.3 million in 2011.
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24/11/2011
Two of the world’s top food bloggers arrived in Ireland today to see and taste all that is good about food in Ireland. Christopher Connolly and Amy Cao, from US based food blogging site Foodspotting.com, will tour key locations including Dublin, Galway, Cork, Waterford and Kilkenny, as part of their week long culinary food expedition. During their trip, the duo will be blogging to their 450,000 followers and showing them all that Ireland has to offer food enthusiasts.
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23/11/2011
Tracey Nolan, a Waterford IT student, originally from Kilkenny, and working in Kilkenny’s Zuni restaurant, has fended off tough competition from some of Europe’s best culinary nations, to scoop a coveted gold medal in the Culinary Arts competition, at the Association of European Hotel and Tourism Schools (AEHT) Annual Conference and Competitions.
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16/11/2011
Businesses in Kilkenny have come together, with the support of Fáilte Ireland, to give visitors a true taste of the city by launching ‘Kilkenny’s Blásta Trail’. This new initiative involves local restaurants, hotels, cafes and pubs offering a range of Irish inspired tapas or taster dishes featuring local and regional food to their customers.
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16/11/2011
The Australian Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Bruce Davis was on his first visit to Sligo this week attending a series of lectures at Sligo IT – running during Science Week. The Ambassador took time out of his busy schedule to experience some of Sligo’s key tourism attractions and get a real sense of the county and its people.
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14/11/2011
Kilkenny’s Ormonde Hotel, the medieval city’s foremost four star Hotel, has swept the boards at a recent awards ceremony, winning awards for its customer service and becoming the first Hotel in Ireland to win an Age Friendly 2011 Award in conjunction with the Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce. The Ormonde then went on to complete a hat trick by being named Best Overall Business at the influential Chamber awards, which were held in the South East.
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12/11/2011
Fáilte Ireland are currently highlighting the many attractions that Sligo, and indeed the North West, has to offer to a group of top UK journalists and representatives from one of the UK’s leading airlines - BmiBaby. During a meeting earlier this year in London, Team Sligo and Sligo tourism trade put forward a proposal to encourage a group of journalists to come and immerse themselves in the attractions of Sligo. This has resulted in Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, putting a full itinerary together of things to do and see in the area.
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11/11/2011
Following the successful visit of her Majesty the Queen to Cork this summer, a number of key members of the local tourism industry travelled to Bristol today (Thursday 10th November) to promote all that Cork has to offer. The trip, supported by Fáilte Ireland, will allow the group to network with key UK operators and media at a variety of events and is all about promoting and celebrating Cork as a holiday destination.
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03/11/2011
The Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism and Sport, Mr Michael Ring T.D., today (Thursday 4th November) opened the Annual Fáilte Ireland Adventure and Activity Forum in Westport.
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24/10/2011
A guide dedicated to the variety of walks available throughout County Sligo has been launched today by Michael Ring T.D. Minister for State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. This is the first publication dedicated to the walking product in Sligo and provides information on the range of walks to suit everyone from beginners to the more avid walker.
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19/10/2011
The popular BBC Celebrity MasterChef 2011 series is down to the wire and this week viewers will see the final series of programmes deciding the eventual winner. Today’s episode (Wednesday 19th October) was filmed in Dublin and Louth, with assistance from Fáilte Ireland, and will be aired on BBC1 at 2.15pm.
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17/10/2011
Over sixty of North America’s top tour operators are currently in Ireland, to meet and close deals with 130 members of Ireland’s leading tourism trade at the North American Expo event. The workshop, which was organised by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, is taking place today (Monday 17th October) in the Heritage Hotel and Golf Resort, Killenard, County Laois.
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14/10/2011
Three of Galway’s leading tourism establishments – the Menlo Park Hotel, the Ardilaun Hotel, and Delphi Mountain Resort in Connemara, together with the Mulranny Park Hotel in Mayo have today received Excellence Awards, as part of the Fáilte Ireland Optimus Programme.
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13/10/2011
Over 90 top overseas agents from 16 countries are in attendance today at Ireland’s largest English language workshop in Carton House, Maynooth looking to bring their business to Ireland’s English language schools. The event, organised by Marketing English in Ireland (MEI) and supported by Fáilte Ireland, is now a major fixture on the global language workshop circuit and the single most important event for the sector in Ireland this year.
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11/10/2011
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, today announced details of a new scholarship programme designed to attract foreign teachers of English to refresh their skills and experience life and learning in Ireland. The news comes as Ireland gets ready to welcome over 90 language travel agents from 16 countries across the globe to Maynooth on Thursday (13th October) for the annual Marketing English in Ireland Workshop. The event, which will be attended by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, will provide an opportunity for English language schools in Ireland to do business with these influential overseas agents.
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10/10/2011
A group of twenty top UK coach and group tour operators recently met to discuss business for the year ahead, with over ninety members of the Irish tourism industry, at the British Coach and Group Tour Operators Workshop, in Johnstown House Hotel and Spa, Enfield, County Meath. The workshop was organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, welcomed the operators, who are all members of top level travel groups in the UK, for this one day Destination Ireland Workshop.
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07/10/2011
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar TD has presented proposals for the biggest tourism initiative ever staged in Ireland. ‘The Gathering’ will be a year-long event in 2013 where people at home and abroad can play a part in the country’s recovery, potentially bringing 325,000 extra visitors and providing a major economic stimulus.
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06/10/2011
Raftery’s Bar of Craughwell is amongst the first of Galway pubs to be assessed, and approved, under Fáilte Ireland’s national standards scheme for pubs – ‘Raising the Bar’ – by receiving a certificate of recognition, proving it delivers the customer journey. The introduction of a quality-based approval system allows the very best of Ireland’s pubs and licensed premises to become accredited by Fáilte Ireland.
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26/09/2011
Fáilte Ireland are currently highlighting the many cultural events that are taking place around Dublin to a group of top international journalists who write for cultural and lifestyle magazines in Italy, France, The Netherlands, Germany Spain and Poland. The journalists are in Dublin as part of a familiarisation trip, which was organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland. With the Dublin Festival Season in full swing there is certainly a diverse range of cultural, arts, architectural, theatrical and musical things to do and see.
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25/09/2011
Fáilte Ireland, today hailed this year’s Solheim Cup an outstanding success and a major boost for Irish tourism as final tallies put the overall attendance figure at 80,000.
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24/09/2011
A group of top German journalists are in Donegal as part of a Great Outdoors familiarisation trip to the North West, which was organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland. The group took time out to experience Bundoran and the European Surfing Championships, Eurosurf 2011. With the event expecting to generate €3m for the local economy the international journalists will add to the considerable exposure for Donegal as a tourism destination.
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22/09/2011
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar T.D. and the National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland, today anticipated a major boost to Ireland’s tourism appeal as the 2011 Solheim Cup gets underway.
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19/09/2011
Up to 20,000 visitors are expected to arrive in Bundoran this Friday as both spectators and competitors head to the European Surfing Championships, Eurosurf 2011 (September 23rd to October 2nd). The event is expected to generate €3m for the local economy and considerable exposure for Donegal as a tourism venue.
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13/09/2011
A new and innovative three-year degree programme for owners and senior managers in the tourism industry commenced today [Tuesday 13th September] with 25 participants from tourism businesses located in all parts of the country. The programme – the Fáilte Ireland B. Sc. in Small Enterprise Management – is the first of its kind for the tourism industry and has been designed by Waterford Institute of Technology in collaboration with, and with financial support from, Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority.
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12/09/2011
This Wednesday (September 14th) Fáilte Ireland will hold its annual e-business conference which explores how we can bring technology and tourism together so that Irish businesses can sell more effectively to the 21st Century tourist. The event will take place at the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport from 8.00am.
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11/09/2011
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, is kick-starting the 2012 tourism season with a number of workshops around the country for a number of leading International Coach Tour Operators. The first of these workshops is taking place on Monday (12th September) in Kilronan Castle, Roscommon, where top European Coach Tour Operators from Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, and Northern Ireland will meet with over 80 members of the Irish tourism trade, to do the spade work for the 2012 tourism season. This visit will be followed by the arrival of a group of top British operators in October.
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09/09/2011
Ashford Castle in Cong, Co Mayo is in the process of welcoming German artist, Luzius Ziermann, and his ‘Signature of Light’ exhibition event. The ‘Signature of Light’ travelling worldwide art campaign, consists of a series of installations around the world where over 2,500 car side view mirrors are arranged into a symbol of light - the sign of Luxius – against the backdrop of stunning landscapes.
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04/09/2011
Fáilte Ireland today announced details of its campaign to promote a world-class series of culture, arts, theatre and music events taking place in Dublin during September and October as part of the new “Dublin Festival Season”.
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01/09/2011
The Minister of State with responsibility for Sports and Tourism, Mr. Michael Ring T.D., today launched Fáilte Ireland’s Discover Ireland Autumn Breaks Brochure while on a visit to the tourism authority’s Discover Ireland Centre in Galway City.
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30/08/2011
Fáilte Ireland and Ryanair today (30th August) announced a joint promotion to encourage UK golfers to visit Ireland between 1st September and 7th November, with a ‘golf bags fly free’ offer which can save golfers £80 on a return flight.
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25/08/2011
The Baggot Inn on Baggot Street is Dublin’s first pub to be assessed, and approved, under Fáilte Ireland’s national standards scheme for pubs - Raising the Bar – recently receiving a certificate of recognition, proving it delivers the customer journey.
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25/08/2011
The Crowne Plaza Dublin-Blanchardstown and Crowne Plaza Dublin-Northwood Hotels – have recently received the Mark of Best Practice award, as part of the Fáilte Ireland Optimus Programme, as special recognition for their on-going commitment to continuous improvement and a first class customer experience.
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04/08/2011
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, T.D., met with members of the tourism industry in Kerry today (Thursday 4th August) at a meeting which was held in the Malton Hotel, Killarney.
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29/07/2011
As the Irish Open continues at full swing, Fáilte Ireland today launched a new online search facility to allow golfers to book their tee-time in real time.
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27/07/2011
Fáilte Ireland today arranged for a group of top international golfing journalists from the UK, Germany, Norway and the US, to play in this year’s Irish Open Pro Am at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.
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25/07/2011
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, TD is joined by Helen O Halloran, Fáilte Ireland, Mella Walsh, Ordnance Survey Ireland, and Deirdre Byrne, Fáilte Ireland to launch a new series of maps to help tourists and locals pinpoint visitor attractions and exciting events, showing everything from the Rock of Cashel to a traditional music session.
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20/07/2011
Fáilte Ireland today announced further details of their golf publicity campaign now in full swing for the Irish Open taking place at the end of this month. New print advertising features the recently crowned British Open Champion Darren Clarke along with Ireland’s Golf Ambassador Padraig Harrington as well as Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. You can access a copy of the new advertising on Fáilte Ireland’s corporate website by clicking here.
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09/07/2011
The Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism and Sport, Mr Michael Ring TD, today announced that the Annual Fáilte Ireland Adventure and Activity Forum would this year be held in Westport. The Minister made the announcement while on a visit to the local Fáilte Ireland Tourism Information Office on James St in Westport.
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08/07/2011
The Newport to Mulranny section of the Great Western Greenway, County Mayo was today honoured as the Irish winner of this year’s “European Destination of Excellence” (EDEN) at an awards ceremony in Mulranny. The award is part of an EU-wide competition which is designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development. New figures released today show that since the beginning of March, 47,048 visitors have walked or cycled along the route.
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01/07/2011
Fáilte Ireland urged all businesses in the tourism industry to pass on to customers the new VAT reduction which comes into effect today. The reduction in the 13.5% VAT rate down to 9% was announced recently as part of a number of government measures to boost the tourism industry and it is expected that this reduction will remain in force until 31 December 2013.
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30/06/2011
Waterford City today welcomes an international fleet of up to 50 Tall Ships along with thousands of visitors and a global audience of millions as the crews arrive for the start of the Tall Ships Races 2011. On Sunday (3rd July), the ships will depart for Scotland and then Norway and Sweden for the later stages of the race series.
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28/06/2011
Newly crowned US Open Champion Rory McIlroy will headline the field for this year’s Irish Open, along with fellow Major Champions Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, as well as defending champion Ross Fisher and Europe’s most recent Ryder Cup Captain, Colin Montgomerie, at the magnificent Killarney Golf & Fishing Club from July 28-31.
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28/06/2011
Fáilte Ireland is inviting local businesses in Killarney to join its newest initiative, the Irish Open Quality Charter, just in time for the Irish Open which arrives in town on July 28th.
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22/06/2011
Using the rich diversity of local Carlow produce, top Irish celebrity chef Neven Maguire, was joined by over three hundred food enthusiasts at a recent Flogas-sponsored cookery demonstration in Ballon Community Centre, Kilbride Cross, Ballon, Co Carlow, to raise funds for the local community and to highlight the rich local food industry still alive and well in rural Ireland. Public organisations, private enterprises and voluntary groups all came together for the benefit of the local community at the event where over 16 local suppliers showcased their produce and sponsored prizes on the night.
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19/06/2011
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, today announced that visitors to Ireland, both domestic and overseas, will now have the opportunity to buy tickets for Gaelic football and hurling matches from local tourist information offices. For the first time, tickets are now on sale in over 20 of Fáilte Ireland’s tourist information offices including Donegal, Sligo, Galway, Cork, Killarney, Kilkenny, Waterford and Mullingar.
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07/06/2011
Fáilte Ireland today announced details of a competition it will launch (in conjunction with Good Food Ireland and Tourism Ireland) on the prestigious US “foodie” website Foodspotting.com. From today (June 7th), Foodspotting.com users are being encouraged to take photos of well-known Irish dishes and upload them to the website and its related mobile app throughout the months of June and July. By doing so, online participants will automatically be eligible to win a trip for two to Ireland on a Good Food Ireland Culinary Tour.
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06/06/2011
Half of all tourism operators believe that their business performance will rise this year – a significant jump from 7% who believed the same just two years ago. This is one of the main findings of the latest Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer for January to May 2011 – a survey of business sentiment amongst the various sectors of tourism including Hotels, Guesthouses, B&Bs, Self-catering, Hostels and Caravan & Camping.
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05/06/2011
The call of the wild proved to be irresistible as Dublin Zoo emerged as Ireland’s top place to visit in figures published today by Fáilte Ireland for the most popular visitor attractions in 2010.
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02/06/2011
This weekend sees Ireland’s festival programme and tourism season get into full swing with a diverse line-up of events for all the family to enjoy. The annual garden festival, Bloom (2nd – 6th June) is back in the Phoenix Park while Kilkenny will be become the comedy city with the staging of The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival (2nd -6th June). For book lovers, the Listowel Writer’s Week (1st – 5th June) is taking place in Kerry with a range of workshops, readings and debates on offer.
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01/06/2011
Food Producers in West Cork took full advantage of the opportunity to showcase their product to local food businesses at the “Local Produce for Local Use” networking event at the Celtic Ross Hotel this week. The event was organised by the West Cork Food Steering Group in conjunction with us to further enhance West Cork’s reputation as a high quality food destination and allow providers to discuss what they have to offer, and more importantly, how they can work together.
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01/06/2011
Ollie Hayes Pub is leading the way for quality and standards as it became one the first premises to be assessed, and approved, under Fáilte Ireland’s new national standards scheme for pubs, Raising the Bar. Recently visited by President of the United States, Barack Obama, Ollie Hayes Pub proudly boasts a certificate of recognition which was presented to them by Fáilte Ireland before the visit after proving it delivers the customer journey.
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29/05/2011
The visits of Queen Elizabeth II and President Obama generated at least €298 million worth of publicity through some 37,795 separate print and broadcast pieces, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has revealed.
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26/05/2011
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, today welcomed the first increase in three years of the number of overseas visitors coming to Ireland. The amount of visitors to Ireland in the first three months of 2011 increased by almost 9% compared to the same period in 2010. This is the first increase in these CSO figures since July 2008.
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25/05/2011
A major domestic tourism package including the €1 million Discover Ireland Summer 2011 promotion campaign and discounts of up to 50% for weekend rail travel has been launched today (Wednesday) by Minster for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar and his colleagues, Ministers of State Michael Ring and Alan Kelly.
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24/05/2011
Tourism businesses from across Kildare and Wicklow recently met at a networking event, organised by Fáilte Ireland, in Powerscourt Golf Club to discuss the collaborative opportunities available and to explore what can be done to promote the Kildare Wicklow Destination. Participants heard from guest speaker, travel writer Pol O’Conghaile who focussed on what the counties of Kildare and Wicklow have to offer and more importantly how they can work together.
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24/05/2011
Fáilte Ireland today welcomed the news that the Irish Sky Garden designed by Diarmuid Gavin, has won gold at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
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20/05/2011
Research released today on the international media’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland indicates that the visit has provided a powerful boost and massive global exposure to Ireland as a destination abroad, with over 11,500 written articles appearing around the world this week. Furthermore, a survey, carried out in the main press centre in Dublin Castle by Fáilte Ireland has shown that the overseas media covering the Queen’s visit have had an overwhelmingly positive experience here in Ireland.
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18/05/2011
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, last night met with members of the overseas media who were attending an evening of Irish food, music and performance organised by Fáilte Ireland. The journalists, who are in Ireland to cover the Queen’s visit, attended the event in the National Gallery of Ireland.
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09/05/2011
Leo Varadkar, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport today joined forces with Fáilte Ireland and a number of local Donegal associations to launch Donegal Live 2011. Returning to Dublin following the resounding success of last year’s event in Temple Bar, Donegal Live will this year take place at the Iveagh Gardens which will be transformed into the North West for one day only on Sunday May 22nd. A host of Donegal artists are lined up to entertain the crowds as well as Donegal personalities who will be on hand to lend their name and time to promote the county.
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06/05/2011
The Great Western Greenway in County Mayo has been named as the Irish winner of this year’s “European Destination of Excellence” (EDEN) award as part of an EU-wide competition designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development.
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05/04/2011
Fáilte Ireland research today showed that overseas visitor satisfaction with Ireland in 2010 was at its highest for many years. The news came as Meitheal 2011, Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair, kicked off at the RDS in Dublin.
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29/03/2011
The world’s top golf trade organisation visits Ireland for the first time this Friday (1st April, 2011). Delegates from IAGTO (The International Association of Golf Tour Operators) will be attending a special Fáilte Ireland workshop at Harvey’s Point Hotel, Donegal, where they will learn first-hand from Irish golf industry members and Fáilte Ireland representatives all about what Ireland has to offer the overseas golfer.
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28/03/2011
Fáilte Ireland today urged communities throughout the country to do their bit for their environment and local tourism as the National Spring Clean approaches on April 1st. Organised by An Taisce, the National Spring Clean will be encouraging citizens and communities to do their bit to tackle Ireland’s litter problem.
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25/03/2011
Fáilte Ireland today announced that Ireland will be included in the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) - an extension of the world renowned and globally popular walking route, the Appalachian Trail. The original 2,000 mile trail, which currently stretches all the way along the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Maine, welcomes an estimated 2.5 million hikers each year.
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24/03/2011
Fáilte Ireland’s research indicates that the English Language Learning sector in Ireland has the potential for considerable growth and significant revenue increases over the next few years. This was the message delivered by Fáilte Ireland today at the Public Affairs Ireland conference - “Challenge and Change, the future for the business of English language training in Ireland” held in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin.
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23/03/2011
Ireland is open and ready for business. This was the message today as Fáilte Ireland held a top level briefing for key players in the business tourism sector which took place in the Croke Park Stadium.
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11/03/2011
Fáilte Ireland today stressed that 2011 would be the year that tourism in the Dublin region would improve with prospects hinging very much on the performance of our overseas markets and the significant potential to be found within business tourism, festivals and events. Reinforcing that belief and citing Fáilte Ireland’s own research, CEO Shaun Quinn pointed out that most tourism enterprises are relatively optimistic regarding their business prospects for 2011, with approximately three in five expecting to maintain or grow their business levels in 2011.
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11/01/2011
Irish tourism experienced its toughest season in over a decade in 2010 with overseas visitor numbers falling back to 1998 levels. This stark fact underlined the key message delivered today, at Fáilte Ireland’s End of Season Review and Outlook for 2011, that while tourism should recover somewhat in 2011, the performance of our biggest overseas market – Britain – would be central to the timing and scale of any recovery.
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