Fáilte Ireland spends €160k on two credit cards for media trips

Fáilte Ireland also paid out another €2,465 to Sheedy’s Hotel in Lisdoonvarna for a separate trip organised to promote the tourist route along the western seaboard. File picture.

Fáilte Ireland charged over €160,000 on two credit cards to pay for holidays for foreign media in the space of 21 months.

The expenditure, which covered stays at some of Ireland’s best hotels including Waterford Castle and the Ice House Hotel, was part of around €900,000 that is spent in an average year entertaining journalists travelling from overseas.

The bills included €2,474 at the Ice House Hotel in Co Mayo as part of a promotional trip for the Wild Atlantic Way, which took place in June 2019.

Another €2,465 was paid out to Sheedy’s Hotel in Lisdoonvarna for a separate trip organised to promote the tourist route along the western seaboard.

A trip by Canadian reporters to Ireland in May 2019 included a combined €4,402 in hotel costs paid to Waterford Castle and the Cliff House Hotel in Waterford.

Fáilte Ireland said the average cost incurred on a typical press trip is in and around €1,000 per visiting journalist.

It said average annual spending is around €900,000 but that this figure had dropped dramatically last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokeswoman added: “This spend has resulted in coverage with an advertising value at a rate of return of more than €100 achieved for every €1 we spend – and this is before factoring in the revenue spent by visitors who come to this country on the back of this coverage.” 

A detailed breakdown of expenditure on two high-purchase credit cards shows tens of thousands of spending on hotels, restaurants, car hire, campervans, and other entertainment.

On one trip to the acclaimed Galway restaurant Dela, a bill of €1,172.60 was incurred while €1,615 was paid to Kinsale’s Good Food Circle, a group of eleven restaurants in the popular County Cork destination.

A popular stopping point for Fáilte Ireland meals was the Pig’s Ear restaurant in Dublin where seven press events costing €1,708 were held.

Another €1,296 was spent with Galway Bay Sea Foods while €1,554 was paid to Celtic Campervans for a press trip.

The tourism agency also paid out for special tours and spa facilities including Irish Folk Tours, seaweed baths, and a Gaelic Games experience.

Other regular attractions included the Guinness Storehouse, trips with Emerald VIP Services in Co Clare, and tours of the Skellig Islands.

Whiskey tours were also a popular choice on press trips with several visits to the Slane Irish Whiskey Distillery in Meath, and the Sliabh Liag Distillery in Donegal.

Fáilte Ireland said it invests in Irish businesses and services when hosting such trips.

“This may include combinations of airport taxi transfers, accommodation, some meals, guides with international languages, driver guides, car hire, coach hire, activities and admission fees to attractions,” it said.

The tourism agency said between 2019 and 2020 it had brought 986 international media to Ireland but that such activity has fallen precipitously due to Covid-19.

“As a result, only 87 international media were hosted in 2020, a tenth of the normal amount,” it said.

“In a handful of cases, overseas media outlets engaged the services of Ireland-based media to produce content for them for broadcast/print in 2021 or when it is safe to travel.”