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Kerry Is In Top Gear And Now We Need To Capitalise On It!

Lee Strand Insert
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Chris Evans’ shot of the beauty of west Kerry.

IT’S been some weekend for Kerry tourism.

The eyes of the nation – and beyond – have been upon us as the ‘Top Gear’ team rolled into Killarney, Kenmare and west Kerry, while the weather has played a huge part in making for a magnificent showcase of our wonderful county.

Top Gear host Chris Evans went on Twitter yesterday to express his astonishment at the Slea Head road…

The day was made great by people from around the county who made their way to see the crew in the south and west Kerry towns, as well as the natives of course who made them so welcome.

Chris Evans went on to post more beautiful shots from his ’76 Rolls Royce Corniche…

These, and numerous other images during the weekend, just shows how much he and his crew were captured by our beautiful home. With the Star Wars crew back in west Kerry, the eyes of the world are on us and they like what they see.

This week Banna will take centre stage with a 1916 commemoration event taking place, which will be televised on RTE.

We’re a county not short on confidence – and rightly so – but has there ever been a time so ripe to capitalise on this sort of publicity?

When the ‘Top Gear’ programme is aired in a few months (how lucky we were with the stunning sunshine to showcase the views!) and the Star Wars publicity set to continue , we can expect a huge spinoff and Tralee can also benefit from this.

I’m sure Tralee Chamber Alliance are already on the case with this, as it’s a huge opportunity to promote the town as a gateway to the peninsula.

But looking beyond the town, we hope the powers-that-be in the county and our politicians (if they ever get their act together in the Dail!) are actively targeting more film and TV production companies to come to the county, to either make movies or travel documentaries.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the county and we have never had it so good. All this and beating the Dubs next weekend to look forward to (fingers crossed). In terms of goodwill and publicity, we’ve never had it so good in Kerry!