- National Heritage Award for Brú na Bóinne.
- Dromoland, Cabra Castle and Kee’s win hotel awards
Peter Malone ofCIE Tours International, Christina Aspell, of Kylemore Abbey, Frances Thompson of Rathbaun Farm, Nora Walsh of Dan O’Hara Homestead, Catherine O’Grady-Powers and Jim Powers, of Glen Keen Farm, Vivienne Jupp, Chairman, CIE Tours International, Aengus Munnelly and Fiona Gavin of Connemara Celtic Crystal, Cillian de Gras, of Dun Aonghasa Fort, and Elizabeth Crabill of CIE Tours International
The awards were presented at its 28th Awards for Excellence ceremony, held at an evening reception in the National Gallery of Ireland by Vivienne Jupp, Chairman and Elizabeth Crabill CEO of CIETours International.
The 84 awards honoured hotels, entertainment venues and tourism destinations, including 14 overall category winners from around the country.
- National Heritage Award Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre
- Best Visit Slieve League Cliffs
- Best Sheep Dog Trial Atlantic Sheepdogs
- Best Lunch Davitt’s Kenmare
- Best Walking Tour Don & Barry’s Kinsale Historic Stroll
- Best Tour Feature Killarney Horse & Carriage Tours
- Special Dinner / Entertainment The Merry Ploughboy Pub
- Best Hotel Service & Hospitality Herbert Park Hotel
- Best Hotel Dinner Granville Hotel
- Best Hotel Accommodation Culloden Estate and Spa
- Best 3 Star Hotel Kee’s Hotel
- Best 4 Star Hotel Cabra Castle Hotel
- Best 5 Star Hotel Dromoland Castle
Elizabeth Crabill, Chief Executive said CIE Tours revenues exceeded €110m and 400,000 bed nights booked throughout Ireland. “Our honorees are exemplary contributors to our 94.6pc guest satisfaction rate, and they all deserve recognition for the excellent roles they play in welcoming visitors to Ireland and ensuring they have a memorable experience. With 86 years of experience, we remain the largest tour operator into Ireland – and our size enables us to provide the best value for our guests. With the largest range of tour programmes for those visiting Ireland, we can bring visitors to many areas and attractions not covered by other tour operators. This includes many rural communities throughout the country. We are excited as we look to the future – 2018 is shaping up to be another banner year, topping even our 2017 levels of growth. We’ve introduced some exciting new products, and are particularly happy with our new family tour packages, which offer exceptional value for families traveling together. Based on the fact that the United States economy, our largest market, is growing strongly, together with a substantial increase in the number of available passenger seats to Ireland we are optimistic that 2018 will see further growth in our business”.
