This article is from page 27 of the 2013-06-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
TWO West Clare businesses will take up the mantle following the decision of Fáilte Ireland not to reopen tourist offices in the principal towns of Kilrush and Kilkee.
The national tourism body has instead issued licences to Crotty’s in Kilrush and Any Occasion Gift Shop in Kilkee to provide Fáilte Ireland “Visitor Information Points”.
The licences were awarded after the contract went to tender earlier this year. The licences have been issued until the end of the year at which point they will be put to tender again.
For the staff at Crotty’s the addition of the Fáilte Ireland tourism information point is a natural progression for what they do every day.
Owner Rebecca Brew explained that the majority of the staff have taken part in familiarity trips to different destinations around west and north Clare already, and as all of the floor staff are from the locality, local knowledge will add to the tourist and visitor experience.
This is the first time Fáilte Ireland awarded a visitor information point licence to a food and drink business, and Ms Brew believes that the location of Crotty’s is ideally placed in the Square, Kilrush to provide such a service.
“I see Kilrush as a lovely place to visit; full of architecturally impressive buildings with a great history located in the town is our Marina where one can access the Ancient Monastic island of Scattery or go dolphin watching on the Shannon estuary. The Vandeleur walled gardens are gorgeous and free to all and can be accessed in two minutes from the town via Turret Lane, at the end of Moore Street, giving the Kilrush woods and gardens a town park feel, great for walks and cycling,” added the woman with all the local knowledge.
Paul Williams at Any Occasion Gift Shop in Kilkee is just as pleased to be helping tourists on a more formal basis. The entrance to the shop will be designated as a tourist information site.
“We tend to get asked these (tourism) type of questions anyway because of the type of business we have,” he said. Paul and the staff are already well informed on local tourist attractions, as the business is part of the local Chamber of Commerce and Loop Head Tourism.
Mr Williams is also optimistic about the tourism season ahead, as recent awards for the peninsula and the good weather has already seen an improvement in the tourism industry locally.