NEW YORK -- Business and leisure travelers are flocking to the
Emerald Isle, and many are choosing upscale and luxury travel
options, said several of Ireland's key U.S.-based tour operators.
Declan O'Brien, president of Destination Ireland and Great
Britain, here, which specializes in custom-designed travel for FITs
and small guided groups, said his company is working to lure
leisure clients from among the corporate business travelers drawn
here by the Celtic Tiger: the strong Irish economy.
"You have a lot of business travel from the West Coast, East
Coast and Chicago to Ireland," O'Brien said. "At the moment, there
is almost an osmosis to leisure travel from that."
U.S. business travelers, he said, "are going for business but
staying for pleasure," and they're taking advantage of the
interesting accommodations available, such as castles and golf
courses.
Romance travel is becoming another area of focus for Destination
Ireland, O'Brien said.
"Some of the things we've developed are honeymoon and
anniversary trips," he added.
"The clients we get are pretty affluent, and they're looking for
a place with an old feel," O'Brien said. "Horseback riding and golf
are big for the honeymooners market. And there's nothing like
staying in an 11th or 12th century castle."
Brian Stack, president of CIE Tours International, Cedar Knolls,
N.J., which does escorted coach tours, individual fly-drive
programs and customized groups with about 80% of its business to
Ireland and Northern Ireland, said his company is showing a 19%
increase in coach tour sales this year compared with 1999.
Stack said he believes fully escorted travel in general has
benefited from more people experiencing the carefree nature of
cruise vacations.
"The more people experience cruises, the more they get used to
everything being done for them," he said.
Price is not a significant factor in the growing popularity of
CIE's coach tours, Stack said, adding that the company's
highest-priced tours are selling best this year, a result of the
strong U.S. economy.
For example, Stack said bookings have doubled this year for the
nine-night Irish Supreme deluxe hotel and castle-hotel tour of
Ireland, which features stays at Dromoland and Ashford castles and
is priced at $3,288 per person, including air from New York
(Kennedy), Boston or Newark for peak summer departures.
Similarly bullish on Ireland was Jay Warren, president and
founder of Warren Tours, here, a small, new boutique company
specializing in luxury FIT in Ireland and the U.K.
"Warren Tours has done extremely well with very little
advertising," Warren said. "We already have doubled our predicted
sales for 2000."
The company's luxury FIT tours start "at around $3,500 per
person, land only," he said.
Warren said the luxury hotel trend these days will be to create
finer quality product, "bringing five-star Ireland up to an
international standard."