Cost of visiting Cliffs of Moher rises by 50%

INTERNAL documents show visitors to one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions, the Cliffs of Moher, are now paying on average 50% more than what they were paying last year to gain admission to the landmark site.

Last August, Clare County Council subsidiary, the Cliffs of Moher Centre, sparked controversy when it introduced a new €6 charge for adults to see the 600 ft high Cliffs.

Prior to the introduction of the new charge, independent travellers were being charged €8 per car at the Cliffs car park and those opting to view the Cliffs of Moher exhibition paid an additional €4.95.

Children under the age of 12 are free under the new pricing structure.

Now, internal management accounts seen by The Irish Examiner show revenue per head from admissions and facilities in January of this year at the Cliffs was €3.50 — a 56% increase on the corresponding revenue of €2.24 per head for January 2010.

The internal documents show the average total spend per head — largely made up of admissions — was €3.92 in January 2011 compared with €3.01 in January 2010, an increase of 30%.

Director of the centre Katherine Webster said yesterday the average admission fee from January to June this year is €3.40.

Ms Webster said the €3.40 charge “compares very favourably to other visitor attractions both in Ireland and overseas”.

A strike action by SIPTU members at the Cliffs is today entering its seventh day and the company has refused to implement a Labour Court recommendation that the company provide the same terms and conditions to Cliffs staff enjoyed by their council counterparts.

The internal accounts projected that the Cliffs is due to make an operating profit this year of €1 million based on a projected 10% drop in visitor numbers. Visitor numbers so far this year are up 19%.

The operating profit of €1m this year is to go towards paying loan charges for the visitor centre which cost €31.5m to build.

SIPTU organiser Tony Kenny said yesterday: “The figures appear to confirm the views of our members that the company does have the funds to implement the Labour Court recommendation.”

However, director of the company, Ger Dollard repeated yesterday that the costs associated with the Labour Court ruling “are not sustainable”.

The centre has accumulated losses of over €668,000 since it was established.