The 2015 Goodwood Members’ Meeting took place last weekend at the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester, England. The meeting – an invitation-only weekend of motor-racing action – was run exclusively for the members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC) and their guests. Tourism Ireland, together with several tourism partners from Ireland, had a presence at the event, which provided an excellent opportunity to highlight our car touring routes.

 Pictured are David Cleary, Manor House Hotels & Irish Country Hotels; Gretchen Ridgeway, Barberstown Castle; and Tom Randles, Randles Hotels, Killarney, on the Tourism Ireland stand.

 

Vanessa Markey, Tourism Ireland’s head of Great Britain, said: “Great Britain is the largest market for tourism to the island of Ireland and 2015 has got off to a positive start, with the most recent CSO figures showing growth of +7.7% for the December 2014 to February 2015 period, an additional 49,200 British visitors compared with the same three-month period last year.

 

“Tourism Ireland is determined to ensure that tourism growth continues and we have an extensive programme of promotions under way across Britain in 2015. We are actively promoting longer-stay holidays to prospective British holidaymakers, encouraging them to come and discover the island of Ireland by car. Those visitors who prefer to use a car on holidays tend to stay longer, spend more and are more likely to visit more than one region. The 2015 Goodwood Members’ Meeting event was a wonderful opportunity to continue to highlight our superb driving routes like the Grand Tour of Kildare and Wicklow, the Causeway Coastal Route and the Wild Atlantic Way.”