Tourism body launches €1m ‘staycation’ drive

IRISH residents are being encouraged to holiday at home this summer with the lure of major discounts for weekend rail travel and a €1 million Discover Ireland promotional campaign.

Three Government ministers yesterday launched a tourism initiative in conjunction with Irish Rail and Fáilte Ireland aimed at the domestic market to persuade Irish holiday-makers to enjoy a “staycation” over the months ahead.

Among promotional summer rail fares on offer will be a 50% discount on online rail tickets for Saturday travel as well as some Sunday services.

Irish Rail will also offer a €20 adult day return fare from Dublin to anywhere in the Republic on Saturdays, with child fares at €10 and a family ticket for two adults and four children of €50.

Although Irish Rail has scrapped last year’s free four-day travel pass for senior citizens from overseas, such tourists will be able to avail of a maximum return fare of €26 for travel anywhere on the company’s rail network this summer.

Fáilte Ireland has also revamped its website with improved search facilities, while it has also launched a Discover Ireland smartphone app, which uses a person’s current location to recommend places to stay and give details of special offers.

Mr Varadkar in the company of his junior ministers, Michael Ring and Alan Kelly, said it was proof of the Government’s commitment to developing the tourism industry.

Mr Varadkar said domestic tourism, which is worth about €1.3 billion annually, would play a key role in Ireland’s economic recovery.

Mr Ring said research had shown that there was a 33% increase in Irish people planning to take their main family holiday at home in 2011.

Fáilte Ireland has estimated that 800,000 Irish people will choose Ireland as the destination for their main summer holiday this year. Fáilte Ireland’s Fáilte Ireland’s chief executive, Shaun Quinn, said domestic tourists accounted for 70% of all hotel beds and 50% of all leisure trips.

All three ministers said they would be staying in Ireland for all or most of their holidays this summer.

Meanwhile, a leading online hotel reservations group has claimed the recent visits of Queen Elizabeth II and US President Barack Obama has resulted in a surge of interest in Ireland from overseas.

Figures from Hotels.com show the number of searches by US tourists for Cork are up 104% compared to the same time last year, while queries from Britain have almost doubled over the same period.

The recent high-profile visits also appear to be having a positive impact on the “staycation” market with searches for Tipperary by Irish users having increased by 175% and for Dublin by 89%.

However, Kildare, which was also visited by Queen Elizabeth, emerged as the county with the biggest overall increase in queries.

According to Hotels.com spokesman Seamus MacCormaic, Ireland now offers the best value hotels in western Europe with the average hotel price just €79 per night.

“The recent visits of Queen Elizabeth and President Obama have played an integral part in reigniting interest in Ireland, in particular in the important UK and US markets,” said Mr MacCormaic.