irish tourist...

homer simpson

well thats what i would call myself anyways, myself and my girlfriend head off from time to time in search of beauty in this wonderfull country , and we do find it most of the time. We have been to most places now but got a while shock this weekend.

We decided to tour the burren area, went down early sunday back today, i have never paid so much for a 2 day excursion in my life and dont expect to again, it cost us roughly €125 euro on entry fees into the various exhibits the same price it cost us to stay in our hotel in ennis for the night. the highlight of which was €34 for a cave with nothing in it,(reccomened by the woman in a tourist office) i feel they knew the cave was terrible because they added a bird of prey display to try and add something to it, but it had 4 or 5 different bird types in cages, with the same breed of birds repeated about 4 times over the next 10 cages or so!

anyways enough about that ive wrote in the clare forum(http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62610055) to see what they say about it but i want to know from all in here if there are many more people like myself who like to tour around ireland discovering things and where you think was the best and did you go to clare and think it was expensive or am i just going mad?????

North_West_Art

I agree, I used to go down to Clare, I was at the cliffs of Moher etc. entry was 2 punt for parking, there was no interpretive centre back then... but all of a sudden, the parking fees increased (€60 for a coach I hear), and of course the charge into the new centre... are the caves you went to near Ballyvaughan? Allawie caves? I havent been, although I did stay in Ballyvaughan for a week in the 90's, and was in self catering, there was a crowd of us from college, the craic was v good. Only for that though, it would have been mediocre enough.
This is why I think that we do have great resources up here, and if we keep things minimal charge, there will remain a steady flow of visitors. More needs to be done to market Donegal (even though the very phrase gives me the hee-bee-gee-bees)
How can someone demand a fee for visitors to access a natural feature? Opportunist capitalists.. always the mental cash register ticking

donegalman1

There has been a total disregard for the importance of tourism in Ireland in the past 15 years especially, right through from planning to the cost of everything.

The Southwest has been fuelled by political support and Aer Lingus etc in Shannon over the years at the expense of the rest of the West Coast. Dublin has been pushed in recent years, but in general, the south west has killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

In general though we haven't made as many mistakes and are generally playing second fiddle in tourism marketing to the like of Kerry etc. In general though we have the quality product that tourism officials use to justify Irelands high costs.

Out of the 5 Counties in the Ireland North West region, Donegal is the most scenic and is the biggest revenue generator, but yet the HQ for the regions Tourist body has been in Sligo.

Donegal would be better served with closer links with Northern Ireland. And has much more in common with Antrim, Derry and Fermanagh than Sligo, Cavan or Monaghan. Infact we have been subsidising the region.

I for one am delighted the Aer Lingus Shannon route was moved to Belfast and these things should be exploited more.

I can gaurantee you, Northern Tourist Offices recommend Donegal much more than any in the South West or West Coast.

irish1967

Disassociated Press is currently researching an article on Tourism in Donegal. Should be ready to go to press sometime next week.

North_West_Art

just reading Donegalman's post there reminded me of a story a few years ago where a tour bus from England stopped in Bridge End looking for An Grianan of Aileach. The coach driver had been to the tourist information office in Letterkenny, but the opening hours were Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.... so what does that tell you?
I think that this has changed and the office opening hours extend into the weekend, but for years, this civil service hours policy was adhered to, pretty brainless, wasnt it?
Clare's proximety to Shannon airport has made the county, and Kerry alike. I remember being to Doolin, after hearing all about the great trad music scene etc. I didnt hear a note while I was there, nor did think a whole lot of Doolin. We do have so much more in Donegal.
Final point Id like to make is on our failure in Donegal to refer business onto another business. If people ring looking for vacancies and there are none, they should be refered to other accommadation. Businesses are so much better off working in tandem. Too much politics involved here

Madam

It's always annoyed me that the tourist office in Letterkenny is so far away from the centre of town! I can't tell you the amount of times someone from France or Germany or wherever have asked me and they just looked blankly at me when I've given directions. Why can't they have it near the market square or at least near the bus station where its kinda central?

josey_whale

homer_simpson wrote: »

anyways enough about that ive wrote in the clare forum(http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62610055) to see what they say about it but i want to know from all in here if there are many more people like myself who like to tour around ireland discovering things and where you think was the best and did you go to clare and think it was expensive or am i just going mad?????

Well.... I don't think Clare is an exception... the whole county is like this... It's called rip off Ireland. As has been mentioned, Clare with it's Shannon gateway is ready made for this. The amount of American tourists you see in the likes of the cliffs of moher, Alwee caves etc, etc is unreal.

I live in Galway.. you meet tourists in the pubs all the time (even in the depths of winter).. ask them if Donegal is on their itinerary... 1 in 10 if you are lucky will say yes.... So, in the likes of Clare.. you are being ripped off... simply because the tourists will pay the money in the belief that this is what it costs.....

Unfortunately, for Joe Donegal - it's too expensive to justify these prices... we could all go to Spain for a week... alot cheaper that it would be for a weeks holiday here. However..... just as Donegal didn't see the same economic "boom" as other places in the country did, it won't see the same "bust".

Vote with you conscience.... spend your money only where you see value. It's your money!

donegalman1

The problem with the tourist in Galway not thinking of Donegal is that tourism in Ireland for years solely constituted the South West, No where elese mattered nor was promoted.

Sliabh League is 3 times the height of the cliffs of moher and more spectacular yet not marketed 1% as much. Not only that but they are the highest Sea Cliffs in Europe.

The Guy in Bridgend who appeared not to know that the Granian of Aileach was just down the road and referred the bus to Letterkenny has a lot to answer for.

The tourist office in Letterkenny always opened til 8pm and at weekends from april til October (the High Season). It is probably defunct in this day and age with internet booking.

The Reason it was located where it was, I was told by top tourism officials in the North west was for two main reasons.

1. Parking, and when you see what the town was like for traffic a few years ago and how tourists drove is quite acceptable and

2. it was the gateway point to town (see Below), but could have been more visible. The New office is better in that the roundabout slows people down and it is more prominent.

Almost 50/50 of tourists that visited it were either going out the Ramelton Road or the N56 (Dunfanaghy road) Neither are that accessible from the main street or Port Road, not even mentioning Car and Caravans. Plus the Chamber office up until recently was on Port Road and was an official Info Point.

North West Tourism looked to buy the building opposite Oatfields but there were issues at that time, so much so I was surprised to see it eventually being bought. Bus Eireann were a separate company to them and at that time their land bank wasn't opened up like it is now. I gather donegal Co Council did a land swap for the new and old Tourist Offices locations enabling a better location at the gateway. Market SQ would never be feasible for parking though a second office would have been nice, but go look at our one post office scenario in Letterkenny and you'll see that its not only a tourism problem getting multiple locations.

What was always evident was that most Tourists didn't venture past Donegal Town or were not encouraged to. North Donegal's biggest customer base was from repeat Scotish and european visitors who either has historical links or liked the quiet rugged landscape. Americans were few and far between and Aer Lingus during the 90's only promoted the South West, whom it must be said had a political savvy tourist network. In a smaller way, Donegal is divided too between North and South of the county in many ways.

I can state that we had more friends in the Northern Ireland offices of Bord failte and even the NITB as they were than anywhere in Ireland. Politics meant no one could do anything about our poor representation in the Irish Republic, though the Troubles were a great excuse for them in the past.

Though, we did have members on the Bord failte Board and a Minister for Tourism in the Nineties, would be interesting to see what they actually achieved. As Minister for Sport and Tourism Jim McDaid did lots for sports, but as much as I respect him in ways, tourism got no special favours or help.

I know all the Semi State and political smokescreens, I used to contribute to the reports, on the ground Donegal was marginalised and got a fraction of what was going. The same is true of RTE and the GAA's attitude to Donegal never mind the government.

You must take into account that not only did tourist often think we were in the North (Six Counties) so did most of the people and government of Ireland.

ToniTuddle

Depending on whether you or your girlfriends has a car or not, I suggest you go driving and try and stop off in random little towns! They normally have some odd little things nearby to check out for free. Close your eyes and randomly pick a place on the map.

Check out Tory Island. It's a bit of a mad place to be fair(I know a few folks from there but I've yet to get over)

Achill Island....is....an experience but not a good one for me. I've never seen a place covered with sheep poo before....LITERALLY covered. Very beautiful in parts though but we tended to stay in the car while touring the island (hadn't brought my wellies!).
Check all the islands!!:D

Kilarney was a great experience. Lovely people, happy atmosphere and just really pretty! That was a few years ago so God knows what shape it's in now

Dingle and most areas right down the very bottom of the country are pretty cool too. Regret not going surfing down there now!

On a side note....ALWAYS make sure you have an update map of Ireland or whatever area you are going too. Nothing worse than landing at cross roads and discovering they are not even on the map:eek:

North_West_Art

donegalman1 wrote: »

The Guy in Bridgend who appeared not to know that the Granian of Aileach was just down the road and referred the bus to Letterkenny has a lot to answer for.

The tourist office in Letterkenny always opened til 8pm and at weekends from april til October (the High Season). It is probably defunct in this day and age with internet booking.



You must take into account that not only did tourist often think we were in the North (Six Counties) so did most of the people and government of Ireland.

Sorry, I didnt mention that the bus tour in question was English, and the driver was English and hadnt been to Donegal before.
Also, this happened about 10 years ago so the opening hours of the Bord Failte office were different to what they are now.

I have often been asked over the years, do we use Sterling in Donegal or the same currency as the South. A few years ago, the new FAS handbook had Donegal as part of Northern Ireland on the map on the cover (full page size).... this went un-noticed by the editors, proof readers, and the printers. Whats even more ridiculous is the chairman of FAS was a Donegal man when it was published :pac: