US visitors to the Kingdom surge 15%

The Americans are back and Kerry tourism interests are smiling as the season hits its annual August peak.

A 22% hike in capacity in flights from North America to Shannon is key to an increase in business from the US this year, according to Kerry hoteliers’ spokesman Michael Rosney.

US visitors are up 15% and European visitors around 6%. However, the British market remains stagnant, a source of serious concern for tourism nationally, he noted.

Mr Rosney said the likes of Killarney, Dingle, and Kenmare were having a good season, with the rise in Americans the “bright, shining star” of 2013.

He emphasised worries about British visitors.

“Between 2008 and 2012, there was a drop of 40% in business from Britain and I’d say the fall has been about 50% from its peak a few years before that,” said Mr Rosney. “Clearly, serious work needs to be done to get that market back to where it once was.”

The home market is still the biggest, but Mr Rosney said there were worries in the industry that Irish people may not have the money for short holidays and weekend breaks because of the recession.

Meanwhile, a Kerry councillor has said that long traffic jams on leading routes into the county are negatively affecting tourism and making people reluctant to come back in the future.

Michael Gleeson referred in particular to places such as Adare and Macroom, and the road from Mitchelstown where visitors regularly experience tailbacks.

“Other western seaboard counties are now served by major new roads but Kerry has been left behind,” said Mr Gleeson, a county and Killarney town councillor.

With growing frustration over delays in bypasses for Adare and Macroom/Ballyvourney, he urged the Government to sanction the long-awaited bypasses on key arteries into Kerry.

“The frustration of spending sometimes up to an hour in traffic jams is often cited by drivers as the reason why they would be reluctant to return,” he said.

“If the tourism industry is to prosper, it is essential that visitors can travel to and from Kerry without undue delay.”

He was supported by Mr Rosney, who said improved access to the South-West was necessary to address the “massive imbalance” in tourism nationally, now strongly tilted in Dublin’s favour, said Mr Rosney, owner of Killeen House Hotel, Killarney.

“Tourists resent their valuable holiday time being eaten into by having to spend too much time travelling to and from a destination. Improved access is vital for the future of tourism in the regions.

“We’ve a situation, at present, where tourists can spend a few nights in Dublin and take day trips to places which have good access from Dublin but there are parts of Kerry which are still five or six hours from Dublin.”