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The cliffs of Moher experience, need more suggestions.

  • 30-06-2020 12:11pm
    #1
    Jimmy Garlic
    Registered Users Posts: 4,349 ✭✭✭


    Is there anything we can do to attract even more visitors willing to part with even more notes? I know the tunnel under the road coming up is great and will be an attraction in itself but surely there other ways to jazz the place up. Getting your photo taken with a devious Leprechaun or pin the tail on the Priest maybe. Surely more can be done now with 16 million being invested by the government in a bit of hard landscaping, tarmac and the like, surely now all that fine space should be used to provide an original Irish experience. Think of this as an online suggestion box for our flagship tourist site.


Comments

  • #2
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,513 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Spider babies are always popular


  • #3
    topper75
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    Pull a few blocks away from the O'Brien tower foundation. Did wonders for a ****hole town in Italy.


  • #4
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Less is more.
    People come for a beautiful scenic view; not an interpretative centre or rip-off parking. And I actually think the restraint they showed with both got the balance right, but there's nothing left to add and planning control on development should be iron-fisted.
    Maybe develop more attractions in nearby towns like Lahinch, Liscannor or Doolin (The last of which was ruined by one-off development when I visited a few years ago). As well as watersports nearby the Burren has potential for outdoor sports like rock-climbing and more.


  • #5
    Jimmy Garlic
    Registered Users Posts: 4,349 ✭✭✭Jimmy Garlic


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    Less is more.
    People come for a beautiful scenic view; not an interpretative centre or rip-off parking. And I actually think the restraint they showed with both got the balance right, but there's nothing left to add and planning control on development should be iron-fisted.
    Maybe develop more attractions in nearby towns like Lahinch, Liscannor or Doolin (The last of which was ruined by one-off development when I visited a few years ago). As well as watersports nearby the Burren has potential for outdoor sports like rock-climbing and more.

    Technically they can’t charge people for looking at the view. That’s why it is being turned into a giant card reader.


  • #6
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,688 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    A platform jutting out over the cliffs with a bungy jump would be some craic, OPW would never allow it though. Maybe they would allow a glass walkway though like the Grand Canyon has.


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  • #7
    BPKS
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,226 ✭✭✭✭BPKS


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    A platform jutting out over the cliffs with a bungy jump would be some craic, OPW would never allow it though. Maybe they would allow a glass walkway though like the Grand Canyon has.

    Would be usable about 3 days a year - when the wind wouldn't blow the rope into the cliff


  • #8
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,513 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    BPKS wrote: »
    Would be usable about 3 days a year - when the wind wouldn't blow the rope into the cliff

    they could maybe nail a couple of mattresses to the cliffs so it wouldn't hurt?


  • #9
    Darksoul
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 292 ✭✭Darksoul


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    A platform jutting out over the cliffs with a bungy jump would be some craic, OPW would never allow it though. Maybe they would allow a glass walkway though like the Grand Canyon has.

    Would be class to do it maybe at the largest of the three islands, Inis Mór, provided the perfect venue for Red Bull's Cliff Diving Series at a cliff known locally as Serpent's Lair. That spot seems to have been left for Dún Laoghaire so can't see why it couldn't be made done.


  • #10
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,688 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    they could maybe nail a couple of mattresses to the cliffs so it wouldn't hurt?

    I know youre saying it in jest but bunjy jumps off cliffs and mountain tops are possible provided the platform extends out far enough. They obviously cant be run on windy days but on normal days people drop straight down and their bounce back and second drop only deviates from that by a few metres. Platorms extend out a lot further than that so the danger of hitting the cliff face is non existant provided there little to no wind.

    The 47m Ledge bunjy in Queenstown is an example of it, its got a swing off it too.

    66fbb60d-38e9-444b-913b-13c5be1703ea.jpg


  • #11
    corner of hells
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,409 ✭✭✭corner of hells


    Lazers , cant go wrong with lazers and a McDonald's.


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  • #12
    whisky_galore
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,515 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    Less is more.
    People come for a beautiful scenic view; not an interpretative centre or rip-off parking. And I actually think the restraint they showed with both got the balance right, but there's nothing left to add and planning control on development should be iron-fisted.
    Maybe develop more attractions in nearby towns like Lahinch, Liscannor or Doolin (The last of which was ruined by one-off development when I visited a few years ago). As well as watersports nearby the Burren has potential for outdoor sports like rock-climbing and more.

    Why does everything need sh1t 'interpretive centres'? Usually manned by a teen scrolling through their phone and the usual gift shop selling Chinese made stuffed sheep and those patchwork flat caps only tourists wear.


  • #13
    topper75
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    whisky_galore wrote: »
    Why does everything need sh1t 'interpretive centres'?

    To shake down and monetise what nature gave us. Like, you know... strippers. :P


  • #14
    I Am Nobody
    Closed Accounts Posts: 726 ✭✭✭I Am Nobody


    Last time I was at the cliffs it was just fields.Have they built it up since then?And yes I live in a cave to these things.


  • #15
    frozenfrozen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,882 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    they should use the money to prop shannon airport up so there are some tourists out west


  • #16
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    whisky_galore wrote: »
    Why does everything need sh1t 'interpretive centres'? Usually manned by a teen scrolling through their phone and the usual gift shop selling Chinese made stuffed sheep and those patchwork flat caps only tourists wear.

    I visited the Blasket one in Kerry a few years ago and was actually very impressed with it, it's aged well in its 20 years. The cliffs of Moher one is nice because it's recessed. I honestly only used it to take a slash though. Maybe the yanks get more out of it.


  • #17
    Gruffalux
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,023 ✭✭✭Gruffalux


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    I know youre saying it in jest but bunjy jumps off cliffs and mountain tops are possible provided the platform extends out far enough. They obviously cant be run on windy days but on normal days people drop straight down and their bounce back and second drop only deviates from that by a few metres. Platorms extend out a lot further than that so the danger of hitting the cliff face is non existant provided there little to no wind.

    The 47m Ledge bunjy in Queenstown is an example of it, its got a swing off it too.

    66fbb60d-38e9-444b-913b-13c5be1703ea.jpg

    My whole body would have to be parceled tight in duct tape and injected with horse tranquilisers before anyone could make me do a bunjee jump. I think I would still manage to scream myself to death.


  • #18
    ThewhiteJesus
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,714 ✭✭✭ThewhiteJesus


    Jimmy Garlic wrote: »
    Is there anything we can do to attract even more visitors willing to part with even more notes? I know the tunnel under the road coming up is great and will be an attraction in itself but surely there other ways to jazz the place up. Getting your photo taken with a devious Leprechaun or pin the tail on the Priest maybe. Surely more can be done now with 16 million being invested by the government in a bit of hard landscaping, tarmac and the like, surely now all that fine space should be used to provide an original Irish experience. Think of this as an online suggestion box for our flagship tourist site.

    Any sensible person is turned off by the price to visit the cliffs, a business minded person attracts the crowd with reasonable ticket prices, and kills them with the add ons, I say this as a lifelong Kilkee/Clare fan


  • #19
    frozenfrozen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,882 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    ThewhiteJesus wrote: »
    Any sensible person is turned off by the price to visit the cliffs, a business minded person attracts the crowd with reasonable ticket prices, and kills them with the add ons, I say this as a lifelong Kilkee/Clare fan

    that's if its all owned and run by one entity. But if you only get the money from the carpark the you are not going to go loss leader pricing on it...

    I don't know if that is the case but there are probably 40 middle managers involved trying to get their own profit up in their own little section


  • #20
    cannotlogin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,172 ✭✭✭cannotlogin


    Given the recession we are heading into, there's probably a small window of opportunity for someone to take the lead with the first appiration, moving statue, miracle, ufo, crop circles, unidentified monster etc.


  • #21
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,688 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    I Am Nobody wrote: »
    Last time I was at the cliffs it was just fields.Have they built it up since then?And yes I live in a cave to these things.

    Yes, they completely revamped the site in 2007. Its now got an intrepretive centre, cafe/restaurant, gift shop and toilets. They expanded the car parks and I think its around 7 or 8 euro to park there now. They also painted double yellow lines along several miles of road approaching the cliffs so that if anyone doesnt use the county councils car park then they get a ticket. Clare County Council even went as far as holding auditions for musicians to busk at the Cliffs, apparently it is lucrative for local musicians who can make several hundred euro in tips from Yanks by playing the fiddle for a few hours. So there was turf wars going on between musicians for the best locations and the council had to step in to sort it out.

    This gives an idea of how much tourism there has grown at the Cliffs since 2007.
    A subsidiary of Clare County Council operates the centre and new figures presented to the Council show that revenues have soared at the visitor attraction company in recent years.

    The Council opened the €31.5m visitor centre in 2007 when 927,000 visitors generated just over €2m in revenues. However, an overhaul in the entrance charging regime and a surge in numbers has resulted in the revenues increasing more than five fold to over €10m last year.

    Last year, a record 1.6m visitors – an increase of 1.57% on the 2018 figure - attended the attraction, which is the country's most popular natural visitor attraction. However, only 11% of the visitors to the Cliffs of Moher are Irish.
    https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0217/1115903-revenue-tops-10m-at-cliffs-of-moher-visitor-centre/

    10 million a year revenues is some going for Clare County Council, they must be the envy of all other councils having that kind of money drop into their coffers year after year.


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  • #22
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Yes, they completely revamped the site in 2007. Its now got an intrepretive centre, cafe/restaurant, gift shop and toilets. They expanded the car parks and I think its around 7 or 8 euro to park there now. They also painted double yellow lines along several miles of road approaching the cliffs so that if anyone doesnt use the county councils car park then they get a ticket. Clare County Council even went as far as holding auditions for musicians to busk at the Cliffs, apparently it is lucrative for local musicians who can make several hundred euro in tips from Yanks by playing the fiddle for a few hours. So there was turf wars going on between musicians for the best locations and the council had to step in to sort it out.

    This gives an idea of how much tourism there has grown at the Cliffs since 2007.


    https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0217/1115903-revenue-tops-10m-at-cliffs-of-moher-visitor-centre/

    10 million a year revenues is some going for Clare County Council, they must be the envy of all other councils having that kind of money drop into their coffers year after year.

    Impressive. Not least that they managed to keep control of it rather than something like the OPW getting in there.


  • #23
    I Am Nobody
    Closed Accounts Posts: 726 ✭✭✭I Am Nobody


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Yes, they completely revamped the site in 2007. Its now got an intrepretive centre, cafe/restaurant, gift shop and toilets. They expanded the car parks and I think its around 7 or 8 euro to park there now. They also painted double yellow lines along several miles of road approaching the cliffs so that if anyone doesnt use the county councils car park then they get a ticket. Clare County Council even went as far as holding auditions for musicians to busk at the Cliffs, apparently it is lucrative for local musicians who can make several hundred euro in tips from Yanks by playing the fiddle for a few hours. So there was turf wars going on between musicians for the best locations and the council had to step in to sort it out.

    This gives an idea of how much tourism there has grown at the Cliffs since 2007.


    https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0217/1115903-revenue-tops-10m-at-cliffs-of-moher-visitor-centre/

    10 million a year revenues is some going for Clare County Council, they must be the envy of all other councils having that kind of money drop into their coffers year after year.

    That is mad stuff.I'll have to go have a look see on my next outing.Thanks for that info.


  • #24
    Gregor Samsa
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,089 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    ThewhiteJesus wrote: »
    Any sensible person is turned off by the price to visit the cliffs, a business minded person attracts the crowd with reasonable ticket prices, and kills them with the add ons, I say this as a lifelong Kilkee/Clare fan

    Yeah, I guess the mere 1.6 million paying visitors they got there last year haven’t taught them their lesson.


  • #25
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Gregor Samsa wrote: »
    Yeah, I guess the mere 1.6 million paying visitors they got there last year haven’t taught them their lesson.

    Obviously they're not pricing the car park for the White Jesus's of this world, or the rest of us. They're pricing it for international tourists.


  • #26
    screamer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,172 ✭✭✭screamer


    Could do with widening the access road, large buses meeting cause hours of tailbacks. Totally puts me off visiting to be honest. I think park and ride with smaller buses to ferry the large bus passengers from liscannor and Doolin is absolutely essential. Get more people there rather than add more sh!te to it.


  • #27
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,688 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    Impressive. Not least that they managed to keep control of it rather than something like the OPW getting in there.

    Im not 100% of how it works but I think the county council have all the car park revenues (which are substantial and would make up most of that 10 million a year revenue) but the OPW do have some oversight on how the place is run.

    From memory back in 2007 the OPW had a lot of involvement in how that interpretative centre got built into the natural landscape of the hill, they ensured it was designed in such a way that it wasnt a blot on the landscape and given the size of the building they did a pretty good job as it is almost hidden and doesnt detract from the cliffs at all. Had it been left to Clare county council it would likely have ended up as some multii storied grey concrrete monstrosity and a complete blot on a scenic landscape. Clare CC do not have a good reputation when it comes to planning, during the Celtic Tiger they blighted the west coast by giving permission for thousands of one off holiday home bungalows, what was scenic views was destroyed by their greed for development fees into the councils coffers.
    I Am Nobody wrote: »
    That is mad stuff.I'll have to go have a look see on my next outing.Thanks for that info.

    A good way to see them is to google around to find the cliff walk that starts a few kilometers away and ends up at the Cliffs of Moher themselves. That way you get a superb walk along the cliff tops that youll have mainly to yoursel as well as avoiding the car parking charges and the crowds except for at the main site itself. Most people only explore a few hundred metres of the Cliffs but there are actually kilometres of walkways all along them which are well worth walking.


  • #28
    Gregor Samsa
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,089 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    screamer wrote: »
    Could do with widening the access road, large buses meeting cause hours of tailbacks. Totally puts me off visiting to be honest. I think park and ride with smaller buses to ferry the large bus passengers from liscannor and Doolin is absolutely essential. Get more people there rather than add more sh!te to it.

    I’ve driven that road many, many, many times. I’ve never been delayed for anything near hours due to busses or anything else.

    There is a park and ride from both Doolin and Liscannor.

    As for increasing numbers, they can barely handle the volumes they have. There’s electronic signs on the approach roads on the surrounding towns telling people not to visit at peak times.


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