Donegal’s Slieve League Cliffs was the most impressive visit for customers of CIE Tours International last year.
The company held its annual Awards of Excellence in Dublin earlier tonight.
Glenveagh National Park was also the recipient of a prestigious award.
Kee’s Hotel in Stranorlar was chosen as the best hotel for service and hospitality while Harvey’s Point at Lough Eske and the Mill Park Hotel in Donegal Town also won two of the coveted awards.
The awards were presented by the CIE Chairman, Vivienne Jupp at a special ceremony in Dublin Castle.
It was revealed that the visitors carried by CIE Tours generated revenues of €83 million in 2015. CIE Tours International brought 44,000 visitors to Ireland during the past year. Awards of Excellence were presented to 98 outstanding hotels and visitor attractions spread right around the country.
The main category Awards of Excellence went to:
Best 5 star hotel The Dunloe Hotel, Killarney
Best 4 star Hotel The Brehon Hotel, Killarney
Best 3 star Hotel Benners Hotel, Tralee
Best hotel accommodation Dromoland Castle, Co. Clare
Best Hotel Dinner Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel, Killiney
Best hotel service & hospitality Kee’s Hotel, Co. Donegal
Best event dinner/entertainment An evening of Food, Folklore and
Fairies, Brazen Head, Dublin
Best dinner feature Killeen House Hotel, Killarney
Best tour feature Glen Keen farm, Co. Mayo
Best walking tour Don & Barry’s Kinsale Historic Stroll
Best visit Slieve League Cliffs, Co. Donegal
Best lunch Davitt’s, Kenmare
National Heritage Award Giant’s Causeway, Co. Antrim
While the Slieve League Cliffs in Co. Donegal impressed most, other attractions that highly impressed were the Cliffs of Moher, which had the most visitors, Blarney Castle, Blarney Woollen Mills, the Skellig Experience, now featuring in the “Star Wars” movie, the Titanic Belfast, Waterford Crystal Factory, Trinity College’s Book of Kells and the Giant’s Causeway.
The Managing Director of CIE Tours International, Brian Stack, told the gathering: “Last year was another strong year when our 44,000 customers booked in the region of 350,000 bed nights. They made a major contribution to Ireland’s record year for tourism when eight million tourists visited our country.
“We are pleased to say that bookings for 2016 have been going well and we are looking forward to exceeding 2015 levels of business despite external matters such as global terrorism threats and market fluctuations. The feedback which we have received from 28,000 customers surveyed was very positive and from these our Awards of Excellence were chosen in this, the 26th year of the Awards.
“The response from our hotels and visitor attractions to the feedback we gave them has also been extremely well received-and acted upon. However our wish list for 2016 would include for the resumption of training and accreditation for tour guides and development of urgently needed hotels for the main tourism hubs, in particular Dublin,” said Mr Stack.
Increased capacity in terms of accessing Ireland was a vital component in increasing visitors numbers. This additional capacity has helped CIE Tours to grow their customers from other markets outside of their core markets, such as Canada and Australia, Mr Stack said.
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