Displaying items by tag: Irish Travel Industry Awards

Q: Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

16th January 2015

Cruise Operator Finalists Announced for Irish Travel Industry Awards

#AwardFinalists - Finalists for the Irish Travel Agents Association's Industry Travel Awards 2015 have recently been announced for an award ceremony to be held next week.

The Irish Travel Industry Awards (ITAA), are the premier awards for suppliers and travel agents in Ireland. The awards are designed to showcase excellence in the delivery of international travel services to both leisure and business customers travelling from Ireland.

The Awards will commend a range of companies from air and sea transport companies, through tour operators, destination representatives and specialist service providers to the trade.

The Mansion House, Dublin, will be the venue for the award ceremony on Thursday January 22, when winners will be announced including those in the category from the Ferry & Cruise industry, sponsored by the Port of Cork.
Below are the following operators that have been nominated from three-sub-categories:

Best General Cruise Company
Celebrity Cruises, Fred Olsen Cruises, MSC Cruises, NCL, Royal Caribbean International

Best Ultra Luxury Cruise Company
Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises – Yacht Club, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises

Best Specialist Cruise Company (including River)
AMA Waterways, MSC Cruises, Riviera Travel, Royal Caribbean International and also nominated is Uniworld

Best Ferry Company
Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, P & O Ferries, Stena Line

To view the list of all the other categories, click HERE.

Published in Cruise Liners

Tagged under

Irish Ferries Voted Best Ferry Company for Fourth Year in a Row

#ferries – Irish Ferries has been voted Ireland's Best Ferry Company for the fourth year in succession at the Irish Travel Industry Awards held in Dublin recently.

The award was bestowed on the company by a vote of Irish travel agents and comes in the week when the company launched its new weekend direct return service between Dublin and the French port of Cherbourg.

Providing what the company's head of passenger sales Dermot Merrigan said is 'a third route option that augments the company's existing services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and Roscoff', the new 19-hours service is operated by the ferry vessel Epsilon departing Dublin every Saturday afternoon and arriving Cherbourg the following morning. Sailings return later each Sunday in time to arrive back in Ireland on Monday morning.

Published in Ferry

Tagged under

Irish Ferries Win Best Ferry Company

#FERRY NEWS- Irish Ferries has won the 'Best Ferry Company' award at the Irish Travel Agents Association travel industry awards held last night in the Mansion House, Dublin.

This was the thirteenth time that the award has gone to Irish Ferries since the event started two decades ago. The award which was presented on foot of votes cast by travel agents and their staff employed throughout the island of Ireland was accepted jointly by its head of passenger sales Declan Mescall and passenger sales manager Marie McCarthy.

Thanking travel agents for the honour their decision bestows on the company, Mr. Mescall said that the Best Ferry award reflects the high standard of service which passengers can now expect from Irish Ferries.

'In addition, it recognises the numerous developments that have taken place in the company in recent times, including the introduction of class leading advances in electronic communications, the most recent being the introduction of the industry's first bookable smart phone app which was launched just months ago' said Mr. Mescall.

The award follows Irish Ferries parent company Irish Continental Group (ICG) whose Dutch based container division Eucon Shipping and Transport was awarded Short Sea Shipping Company of the Year Award 2011, sponsored by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).

Eucon operate regular feeder services to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Southampton from the ports of Belfast, Dublin and Cork.

Published in Ferry

Tagged under

Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities.

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

What is marine leisure tourism?

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

What marine leisure tourism studies have been conducted in Ireland?

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

What were the results of the NUI marine leisure tourism study?

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.