The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience in Liscannor was the country’s second most popular destination with tourists as nearly 1.1million people visited the North Clare attraction last year.
Figures released by Fáilte Ireland show that the Cliffs of Moher centre was second only to Guinness Storehouse in Dublin which pulled in 1,269,371 visitors. The Liscannor attraction leapfrogged Dublin Zoo as the country’s second most popular destination.
Bunratty Castle is the country’s 11th most popular paid tourist attraction with 295,000 people passing through its gates while Ailwee Cave and Birds of Prey Centre in Ballyvaughan visited by 120,000 paying customers.
Minister of State for Transport, Tourism & Sport Michael Ring acknowledge, “Our great variety of attractions, whether free or fee-paying, is an important part of our allure to visitors and add to the positive experience enjoyed by tourists here. Over the last few years, this Government has invested significantly in new and existing attractions and is committed to ensuring our attractions remain relevant and attractive to the visitors arriving to our shores.”
Meanwhile, Shaun Quinn CEO Fáilte Ireland said tourism is on track to enjoy what could be a record year in terms of activity and visitors in 2015.
“With that in mind, we would expect the attendance numbers for most attractions to rise even further. We, in Fáilte Ireland, have invested quite heavily in our tourism infrastructure in recent years to ensure that Ireland remained an appealing destination despite the downturn. Now that tourism is on the rise again, Ireland and its strong collection of attractions are perfectly poised to welcome and cater for ever greater numbers,” he said.
