A local hotel owner says Tipperary should take advantage of bed shortages elsewhere in the country.
Liz Nallen is the proprietor of the Hotel Minella in Clonmel and has been speaking from Meitheal in Kerry which is Fáilte Ireland’s flagship trade event, where buyers from over 20 different countries come to meet Irish businesses.
She says this is great chance for them to show what Tipperary has to offer and encourage tourists to venture out of Dublin.
Speaking on Tipp Today she said that while other counties are grappling with accommodation shortages and larger numbers of asylum seekers, Tipperary has the space.
“There are a lot f them in Killarney , there are a lot down in Clare, which makes the shortage and some of the operators had problems last year had very difficult year where they were bringing individual tours an coach tours into areas and suddenly there was no accommodation and they had to relocate them. But that is something we in Tipperary can take advantage of. In Tipperary/Waterford we have hotel beds. You know a lot of bigger operators would have featured Killarney, Cork, maybe Kilkenny, Dublin in their itinerary and you know they have to think of other places they can go to.”
The global Travel Trade Fair sees international buyers conduct over 10,000 meetings with Irish businesses.
Liz says that 2024 should be a good year for the county as they have new offerings available to tourists in the county.
“This is where here in Tipperary we can really take advantage of this and get them out where there is shortage of beds in Dublin we just need to get the operators to look and change their minds on how they bring tourists around the country. We have got lots of new activities with the Suir Blueway and we have got a new experience coming on the Country thoroughbred which is in collaboration with Kildare and Tipperary and the equine site which will be coming on site in the next year or two and that will drive a lot of business down this end of the country.”
