Tourists identify range of problems in online survey

OVERCROWDING, noise pollution, opening hours and prices are among the problems identified by tourists in the first online survey of the opinions of visitors to Ireland.

While the audit of online blogs and forums found that nine out of 10 visitors described a positive holiday experience, it also identified several concerns to be examined by tourism chiefs.

Some are outside of the tourism sector’s control such as the weather, driving on the left and the poor condition of roads.

However, complaints included the price of food, drink and accommodation; a lack of extended opening hours at visitor centres; noise control in city centre accommodation; and overcrowding at popular tour-ism sites.

In relation to prices, some tourists took issue with what they were charged in Ireland, although others compared costs with other European countries “and don’t rate Ireland as expensive”, according to Tourism Ireland, which commissioned the study.

The most popular topics in online conversations were about holiday activities and accommodation, it said.

Tourism Ireland’s central marketing manager, Mark Henry, said: “We are now in a world where word of mouth — be it good or bad — is accessible by potential customers globally in an instant. Today a satisfied customer does not just tell 10 others about their holiday experience, potentially they tell 10,000 others.”

Mr Henry said tourists were increasingly reliant on social media sites rather than conventional holiday fairs and guidebooks to inspire and inform them about holiday choices.

“Our research highlights that the excellent holiday experience most visitors have here is one of our tourism industry’s greatest assets, while at the same time emphasising the importance of high levels of customer service in generating further growth.”

The survey looked at 5,000 “freely expressed opinions” about holiday experiences here, across social media sites such as Tripadvisor.com and Blogspot.com, in 14 countries from January to April.

The survey found people were most likely to praise the dramatic Irish landscape and natural attractions such as the Cliffs of Moher, to comment on our attractive castles and historic ruins, or to talk about the warm Irish pub experience.

Tourism Ireland said visitors and potential visitors were also most likely to discuss accommodation staff and quality of service, cleanliness and the quality of our food and drink.

The people of Ireland came in for regular praise for their attitude to foreigners, friendliness, helpfulness and openness.