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Fanad Visitor Centre Opens

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin and Government Chief Whip and Minister for the Irish language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Joe McHugh officially opened a new visitor reception centre at Fanad Lighthouse in Donegal.

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Overlooking Malin Head, Fanad Lighthouse offers visitors breath-taking views and a truly memorable experience. Identified as a Signature Discovery Point along the Wild Atlantic Way, the refurbished lighthouse opened to the public in 2015. Alongside funding from the Special EU Programmes Body, Irish Lights, Donegal County Council and Údarás na Gaeltachta, Fáilte Ireland invested €470k in the development of a new visitor centre and car park. The new reception centre is also home to a permanent exhibition to highlight the stories of Fanad Head.

Speaking today ahead of the opening, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin said:

Smoking Ban for outdoor food areas

The Government is to extend the ban on smoking where food is served to include outdoor areas.

Minister for Health Simon Harris is to issue directions via a statutory instrument to address the gap in current legislation.

Mr Harris is to ask for Cabinet approval at to-day'smeeting to accept the proposal.

Ireland has set a target of being tobacco free by 2025. Currently smoking is prohibited in the workplace as well as restaurants, bars, education facilities and public transport.

The ban was recently extended to smoking in cars where young children are present.

Ireland ready for China Blitz

Tourism Ireland, together with 24 tourism companies from the island of Ireland, is preparing to blitz four major cities in China next month,

The sales mission – which takes place 7-12 May – will target top Chinese travel agents and tour operators, through a busy programme of

workshops, presentations and networking events in the key cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Travel agents continue to play an important role in China, with travellers preferring to use a travel agent for a number of reasons, including convenience, language barriers, visa preparation and knowledge gaps. The objective of the upcoming sales mission is to engage with Chinese travel professionals who are currently selling the island of Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination – and to encourage them to extend their Ireland offering, or to include Ireland for the first time, in their brochures and programmes.

Visitor Crime Victims up 25%

The Irish Tourist Assistance Service (ITAS) offered support and assistance to nearly 900 people who had fallen victim to crime and other traumatic events during their visit here in 2017.

The most common crime perpetrated against tourists was theft from person (39% of referrals). There was an increase in referral of theft from cars (11% of referrals), while a small number of tourists (15) were referred after violent crime such as aggravated theft, assault, sexual assault and robbery.

There were also 13 cases of online fraud, with tourists paying large deposits for accommodation, only to arrive and find no valid reservations had been made. Fraudsters had taken online payment for accommodation which they do not own and even for properties which do not exist.

Drawing tourists from ATM

Tourism Ireland is promoting the island of Ireland in Dubai, at this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – in a bid to grow tourist numbers

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from the UAE in 2018 and beyond.

Pictured are Siobhán Naughton, Tourism Ireland; Mohamed Al Rais, Al Rais Travel; Aisling McDermott, Tourism Ireland; and Tracey

Coughlan, Fáilte Ireland, at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai.

ATM is the largest travel trade exhibition in the UAE, attracting more than 30,000 visitors – including leading tour operators, travel agents, business tourism buyers, airlines, travel media and bloggers – and not just from the UAE, but from 153 different countries.