German film to bring tourists in droves

HUNDREDS of tourists are expected to flock to Cork and Kerry this summer after 7.7 million people in Germany watched a television drama shot in the southern counties.

Judith von Rauchhaupt, from Tourism Ireland’s German office, said industry chiefs were expecting the numbers of those visiting the locations shown in An Ocean Apart, by Robin Pilcher, to soar.

More than 7.7 million people in Germany watched the drama, An Ocean Apart, when it aired on the ZDF German state television stations on Sunday, January 8.

The television drama was shot in Cork and Kerry in several locations including Bantry House, Dunboy Castle, Kenmare and Cork City between August 25 and September 23 last year.

The movie was based on a novel by Robin Pilcher, son of the novelist Rosamunde, and was a follow-on film to one of Germany’s most successful and popular series, the Rosamunde Pilcher films.

Tourism Ireland said one of the biggest tour operators in Germany, Der Tour, organises trips based on the Pilcher programmes.

Ms von Rauchhaupt said the Der Tour catalogue included a Robin Pilcher tour in Ireland highlighting all the locations shown in the programme, including Kenmare and Bantry House, which she hoped would encourage hundreds of people to travel.