Kenmare doesn’t need celebs to be classy

THE fact that it can count Nicolas Cage among its clientele is no great boast for the Park Hotel Kenmare.

After all, he is just one customer, albeit a very rich one.

Its great boast, however, is its long list of awards. Its recent achievements include the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2007 award; the top 25 spas in the world, and the number two hotel spa in Europe.

Keeping an operation like this running takes constant marketing and promotion. For a relatively small operation the family-owned hotel and spa “punches way above its weight”, says managing director John Brennan.

The hotel and spa is an integrated business with virtually all of the customers availing of the Samas spa. When they first got into the business over 20 years ago, says John, they could have opted for an all-in-one type hotel which catered for weddings and conferences. But they wanted to specialise in one area: spas. The Brennans — John’s brother Francis is the owner — have now established their hotel as one of the leading spa destinations in the world, which is an outstanding achievement.

Last year, the hotel arranged for two display windows in the Harrods of London upmarket department store. In a deal that cost them nothing, the Brennan brothers were able to promote their spa in a very wealthy region gratis.

In return, Harrods was able to target its ‘a-list’ mail shot to the pleasures of an escape to a rural idyll. This type of exposure, says John, would have cost in the region of €60,000.

The scheme worked perfectly and the hotel and spa was booked out as a result. In an identical targeted marketing strategy this year, the brothers concentrated on Selfridges Department Store located in the gigantic Trafford Centre in Manchester. The city has a huge Irish diaspora and it is they, and the wider population, on which the hotel has now focused its marketing.

This type of deal is becoming popular in marketing. One company is able to provide coverage to another and in return gets exposure itself. The hotel also joined forces with Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia in the promotion in Selfridges. Francis is well aware of Kenmare’s ‘place’ in Ireland and is very quick to emphasise the point on the micro to macro level: “It’s Kenmare, Kerry and Ireland.”

The hotel runs numerous events during the year including walking festivals, yoga, hikes, ‘golf enhancement’ and Lynn Robinson’s Pilates mind and body exercise regime.