This article is from page 5 of the 2005-10-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
THE tourism subsidiary operated by Shannon Development increased its profits by 50% last year, accounts filed to the Companies Office reveal.
Shannon Heritage and Castle Banquets Ltd. increased its profits to €117,040 in a success- ful year for the company.
Prior to an exceptional cost of €60,000, the company, which employs 200 people, made a profit of £69,073 in 2003.
Last year, it made a turnover of €11.3 miul- lion, which was up 5% on the 2003 figures and attracted 625,000 visitors to its attrac- tions, an increase of more than 6%.
According to the accounts, “the 2004 year has been a difficult year for many in the Tour- ism industry particularly the latter half, due to a combination of factors. These include the downturn in US visitors due to the value of the dollar against the euro. However Shannon Heritage has managed to attract over 625,000 people to its range of day visitor attractions and evening entertainments.
‘Most of this increase was achieved in the first half of the year when trading conditions were much better.
The most popular visitor attraction remains Bunratty Castle & Folk Park which attracted 324,903 visitors in 2004 — an increase of 17,000 on the 2003 figure of 307,145.