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Kerry tourism showing signs of recovery

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Tourism Industry bosses in Killarney remain upbeat despite a recent Fáilte Ireland survey saying that tourist spending in Kerry for last year had dropped by 46% compared to 2019 figures.

Despite the large percentage drop – attributed to pandemic related closures - Kerry performed well in terms of the share of visitors to the county and tourism spend.

Tourism in the county generated €162 million in 2021 according to estimates on spend by Fáilte Ireland. This is compared to a spend of €299 million in 2019.

Domestic trips to Kerry in 2021 were over half those in 2019, despite the widespread enforced closure of tourism and hospitality businesses for a considerable portion of 2021. According to the Central Statistics Office Household Travel Survey, there were 602,000 domestic trips to Kerry in 2021, compared to 1,105,000 in 2019.

Kerry is in second place on the highest tourist spend list in a year that was largely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns and a lowered intent to travel due to health and safety regulations.

Visitors stayed an average of 3.8 nights in the county, an impressive result demonstrating the value of a sustained year-long campaign to communicate the variety of experiences made available to visitors by the Kerry Tourism Industry Federation (KTIF).

“Taking everything into account, the report shows a relatively positive outcome for Kerry in terms of maintaining our share of domestic tourists to the county and achieving tourism spends that outperform proportionately to the amount of time tourism businesses were operational during the year,” said Patrick O’Donoghue, chairperson of the marketing committee of KTIF.

The sector is showing promising signs of recovery thus far in 2022 with domestic tourism remaining strong combined with the welcome return of overseas visitors to the county.

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Ballymac Vintage Club announces first Christmas Lights Run

Ballymac Vintage Club will run its first Christmas Lights Run on Saturday, December 13, starting and finishing at Glenduff Manor in Kielduff. The event is open to all vehicles including […]

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Ballymac Vintage Club will run its first Christmas Lights Run on Saturday, December 13, starting and finishing at Glenduff Manor in Kielduff.

The event is open to all vehicles including tractors, cars and motorbikes. While many vintage and classic vehicles are parked up for the winter, modern vehicles are also welcome. Participants are encouraged to decorate their vehicles with Christmas lights.
Registration opens at 3pm and the run will begin at 5pm. Proceeds will go to the Children’s Ward at University Hospital Kerry and the Tralee/West Kerry branch of Multiple Sclerosis Ireland.
Spectators can view the run along the following route:
The convoy will turn right on leaving Glenduff Manor, then turn left before the main Tralee–Castleisland road. It will travel the full length of the old Tralee–Castleisland road, briefly join the main road and then turn left at O’Riada’s before heading past Clogher Church and returning to Glenduff Manor.
Spot prizes will be available, and organisers thanked the event’s main sponsors: BG Motors Killarney, Brownes Agri Steel Castleisland, Horan Wedding Cars and Glenduff Manor.

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Motorists advised to be careful during bad weather

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Kerry County Council is appealing to people to stay away from exposed coasts while the weather warnings are in place this week.

Met Éireann has issued an Orange Warning for wind for Kerry which is effective from 7am to 3pm on Tuesday. There is also a Yellow warning for rainfall which is in place from 9pm tonight to 9am on Tuesday.

Storm Bram is expected to bring a very strong to gale force southerly winds with the strongest winds along the coast.

Motorists are advised to expect travel disruption on Tuesday with surface water likely on many routes.

Wave overtopping and high tides are expected to contribute to possible flooding in coastal areas.

The Local Coordination Group which includes Kerry County Council, the HSE, An Garda Síochána, emergency services and utilities, is meeting this afternoon to prepare for the impact of Storm Bram.

Kerry County Council announced today that Rossbeigh beach car park had been closed to the public until further notice. Members of the public are also advised not to park or walk near the coast during this period.

Kerry County Council’s weather emergency phoneline will be operational during the weather warning and issues can be reported to 066 7183588.

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