TRALEE is in the mix for a prestigious national award so we have to be on our toes for the next few weeks!

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD announced today that Fáilte Ireland is publishing its shortlist of 15 towns and villages from across the country being considered for the 2015 Tourism Towns Awards.

Continued below…

The competition, now in its fourth year, is designed to recognise Irish towns and villages where the local community goes the extra mile to enhance their appeal to tourists.

The 15 towns – including five Kerry entries in Tralee, Killarney, Kenmare, Portmagee and Sneem – will now be subject over the next few weeks to a series of unannounced inspections from a team of independent ‘secret shoppers’ who will visit each location and who will look for evidence of a high quality visitor experience and of involvement by the local community and businesses in delivering this experience.

They will look at the quality of its attractions and sites of interest and how well the town promotes what they have to offer.

Westport took home the overall crown for ‘Best Large Town’ award in 2014, with Kinsale picking up the ‘Best Small Town’ accolade.

Today’s shortlist will be whittled down to a final list of ten “Highly Commended Tourism Towns” which will be announced at the National Tidy Towns Awards later this year.

Subsequently, the overall winners for the Best Large and Best Small Tourism Town will be announced by Fáilte Ireland in November.

Now in its fourth year, the award will continue to focus on how participating towns have developed their local area in the following key tourism areas:

Sense of Place – How the town tells its own unique story to visitors, what’s special about it, and what distinguishes it from other towns.
Local Involvement – How the local community works together to provide an authentic visitor experience.
Tourism Products Available – What the town has to offer visitors.
Development and promotion of the town – How the town takes a unified approach to marketing and developing the town into a “tourism town”.

 

Tourism Towns Long-list

1. Kilkenny
2. Lismore
3. Killarney
4. Clonakilty
5. Belmullet
6. Ardmore
7. Tralee
8. Adare
9. Sneem
10. Carrick on Shannon
11. Kenmare
12. Portmagee
13. Cobh
14. Youghal
15. Mountshannon