This article is from page 8 of the 2008-08-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
VISITOR attractions at Craggauno- wen and Knappogue Castle are to close early this year, with Shannon Heritage pointing to falling tourist numbers and an early start to the sea- son as the reasons for the decision.
Staff at both attractions have been told that they will shut up shop for winter on September 2 this year. Both would normally stay open to daytime visitors until the end of September and some years, until the middle of October.
While many of the staff who work
the summer season at the various attractions are students who would leave to go back to college in Sep- tember, a small number of the sea- sonal staff could normally hope to be employed until October and some would transfer to Bunratty Folk Park and continue into December.
Shannon Heritage Chief Executive Officer, John Ruddle confirmed that the two facilities are closing early. He said that it has “been a difficult season. Tourism numbers are down across the board.
“We have had a drop of eight per cent this year and while that doesn’t
sound like a lot, that’s quite a lot of people in our terms. I would also say that I would hope this is a once-off and that next year will be much bet- ter,’ said Ruddle.
He added that another factor in the decision was that the facilities had opened three weeks early this year to accommodate an early Easter.
Shannon Heritage had been ex- panding it’s programmes this sum- mer, staging Living History events in conjunction with a Clare re-enact- ment group and working on the fa- cilities at the visitor park.
The hugely popular Shannon Herit-
age banquets at Bunratty, Dunguaire and Knappogue are normally booked out throughout the busy summer sea- roe
But this year, the medieval feast- ings, along with other attractions including Bunratty Folk Park, the Irish nights and King John’s Castle, are also down in visitor numbers by eight per cent.
The Shannon Heritage concerns are not the only ones feeling the pinch. According to Barbara Faulkner, of the award-winning Ailwee Caves project, they are down at least one in ten visitors this year.