Hotelier urges ‘compelling’ tourism campaign

IRELAND’S tourism industry has evolved from one dependent on the “55-plus, Irish-American, Catholic, war veterans wearing Aran sweaters, green caps and blue rinses” in the 1980s to become a key sector in our economy, a leading hotelier said yesterday.

John Brennan, of Park Hotel Kenmare, said there have been “huge changes” in tourism since the hotel opened as one of only a handful of five-star properties in Ireland in 1980.

He made his comments at a conference attended by industry leaders and academics at Waterford Institute of Technology.