TOURISM IRELAND launched a new marketing campaign
with a two-week series of travel trade presentations in 40 U.S.
cities. The agent events, which kicked off Jan. 27, feature
presentations from 48 companies -- including airlines, tour
operators, auto rental companies and hotels -- peddling product in
and to both the Republic and Northern Ireland, Formats vary by
location and the two-hour events, which are open to any retail
agent, are a mix of breakfasts, lunch meetings and evening
receptions. Remaining cities on the seminar tour circuit next week
include Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ontario and San Jose, Calif.;
Chicago; Detroit; Pittsburgh; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Boston;
New York City; Saddle Brook, N.J.; and Tampa, Orlando and
Jacksonville, Fla., among others. For information, call (800)
669-9967.
IRISH HOSPITALITY: Radisson SAS Hotels and
Resorts is seeing green in the Irish accommodations market. The
chain this month took over management of an existing Radisson golf
resort property outside Londonderry, some 50 miles from Belfast, in
the chain's first foray into Northern Ireland. The seven-year-old
Radisson Roe Park Hotel and Golf Resort in Limavady, rebranded as
the Radisson SAS Roe Park Resort, recently underwent an expansion
program and now boasts 118 rooms -- in both an original manor house
and a new modern wing -- and meetings and conference rooms for 450
guests. In another Ulster first, Radisson SAS also will open a
120-room hotel in Belfast in May 2004; to the south, the hotel
group operates properties in Limerick, Galway and Dublin and will
open a Letterkenny outpost later this year. Radisson SAS pays
agents a standard 10% commission. For more information, visit www.radissonsas.com.
LUXURY PROPERTY The Merrion in Dublin woos
lovebirds this Valentine's Day with new romance packages available
Feb. 13 to 17. The Romantic Retreat stay, priced at about $300 per
couple, offers a bottle of rose champagne, handmade chocolates,
full Irish breakfast and accommodation for one night. The Romantic
Interlude, at about $683 per couple, adds an additional night's
accommodation in a double room, with late checkout; the package
also includes one half-hour "His and Hers" spa treatment per person
in the hotel's Tethra Spa along with a gift of bath oil. Agent
commission on all packages is 10%. Contact The Merrion at (011)
353-1 603-0600, by fax at (011) 353-1 603-0700, via e-mail at
[email protected] or on the Web at www.merrionhotel.com.
TOUR-A-LOO-RA-LOO-RAL: CIE Tours is wooing
mature travelers ages 55 and older this spring and summer with
discounts of $110 per couple on 62 departures of escorted tours to
Ireland and Britain. CIE Tours officials urge early booking, as the
discounts are limited to the first 15 seats requested on 11
departures of the company's Irish Tradition tour; 10 departures of
the Irish Explorer; nine departures of the Irish Classic; seven
departures of the Irish Odyssey, and the British and Irish
Grandeur; and six departures of the British Elegance, the Irish and
British Voyager, and the British Discovery. Agents must book the
departure and obtain proof of the clients' ages; then they may
deduct $55 per person from final payment for the tour. CIE pays
agents a minimum of 10% commission on both land and air. Contact
CIE Tours at (800) CIE-TOUR or visit www.cietours.com.
SCEPTRE IRELAND hopes agents take a shine to
its Treasures Tour, which takes in the full spectrum of the Irish
experience from quaint villages and cozy bed-and-breakfasts to
historic landmarks and castles. Priced from $999 to $1,699 per
person, double, the tour includes roundtrip air on Aer Lingus;
seven nights' accommodations, including stays at a B&B, a
hotel, a manor house and a castle; breakfast daily; most dinners; a
farewell gala dinner at either Dromoland or Ashford castles; and
sightseeing and admission fees. Rates are valid Feb. 14 through
November, and are based on midweek departures from Baltimore,
Boston and New York. Sceptre Ireland pays 15% on land and 8% on
air. For more information or to book, call (800) 221-0924 or try
out the company's online Web booking engine at www.sceptreireland.com.