Glen Keen Farm on the Wild Atlantic Way near Louisburgh has been voted as the Best Tour Feature in the prestigious CIE Tours International awards presented in Dublin Castle last night. Ashford Castle in Cong was voted the best visited hotel in Connacht while Hotel Westport also won a top award.
The coveted awards were presented by the CIE chairman, Vivienne Juppo, when it was revealed that the visitors carried by CIE Tours International generated revenues of €83 million in 2015. The company brought 44,000 visitors to Ireland during the past year. Awards of Excellence were presented to 98 outstanding hotels and visitor attractions spread right around the country.
While the Glen Keen Farm was a visitor highlight, other highlights included the Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle, Blarney Woollen Mills, the Skellig Experience, the Titanic Belfast, Waterford Crystal Factory, Trinity College’s Book of Kells, and the Giant’s Causeway.
The managing director of CIE Tours International, Brian Stack, told the gathering: “Last year was another strong year when our 44,000 customers booked in the region of 350,000 bed nights. They made a major contribution to Ireland’s record year for tourism when eight million tourists visited our country.
"We are pleased to say that bookings for 2016 have been going well and we are looking forward to exceeding 2015 levels of business despite external matters such as global terrorism threats and market fluctuations. The feedback which we have received from 28,000 customers surveyed was very positive and from these our Awards of Excellence were chosen in this, the 26th year of the awards."
