This article is from page 2 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
TOURISM ambassadors will be tak- ing the message that Clare is the place to come to the biggest Irish festival in the world.
More than 150,000 visitors will be getting information about Clare’s at- tractions, culture and heritage in a full-on drive to bring them here.
The Clare Tourist Council will, again this year, lead a delegation to the Milwaukee Irish Festival.
The Clare delegation that includes representatives of the Clare Tour- ist Council, Clare Tourism Forum, Shannon Development and the Cliffs of Moher will operate two stands at the destinations area, which receives a significant amount of visitors inter- ested in coming to Ireland.
According to Flan Garvey of the Clare Tourist Council, it’s especially vital this year that County Clare has representation at the festival.
‘Our experience shows that there are many Irish-Americans who are huge- ly interested in coming to Ireland but gravitate towards Dublin, if there are not other counties to draw them west of the Shannon. We have seen a sig- nificant return from our efforts over the last number of years, and we’re confident that we can have a positive impact on tourism to Clare through our presence again this year.”
Cuimhneamh an Chlair, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group will also feature prominently at this year’s festival. The fledging group has been invited to speak about their initiative at the renowned hedgeschool lecture
series. According to Tomas Mac Con- mara, who will provide the lecture, there is a huge appetite for Irish cul- tural heritage in Milwaukee and the US. “When Irish/American visitors come to Ireland, they’re not interested in the type of Disneyland tourism that has been created by tourism agencies specifically for their consumption.”
Commenting on future tourism de- velopment in Ireland, he said that, “There is no need for us as Clare people to ape what is being done in France, England or America. Visitors come to Ireland for an Irish experi- ence. We should be proud of our own traditions, customs and identity; fos- ter and preserve those first of all for local people and the knock on effect would be an increase in people want- ing to experience this as it 1s.”