CIE Rewards Service

A cross-section of tourism businesses were recognised at the 33rd CIE Tours Awards of Excellence.

The largest carrier of US visitors to Ireland every year held its annual awards of excellence celebrating Irish hoteliers and tourist experience operators who have been singled out by the 30,000 visitors who came to Ireland with CIE Tours in 2024.

Kerry featured strongly in the awards with Ballygarry Estate Hotel & Spa offering “Best Hotel Dinner” and The Rose Hotel, Great Southern Killarney, International Hotel Killarney, Killarney Avenue Hotel, Killarney Plaza Hotel and Killarney Towers Hotel all receiving Merit awards.

The Cliffs of Moher Experience picked up an “Award of Excellence”. The attraction received a customer satisfaction rating of 96.5% for 2024, up from 95.8% in 2023. The award was accepted by Cllr. Alan O’Callaghan, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, and Melanie Lennon, sales and marketing manager for Cliffs of Moher Experience and Clare Tourism North West.

Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum and Gardens, Wexford also received an award at the 33rd Annual CIE Tours Awards of Excellence. The awards were presented at the ceremony recently held at Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin. The annual awards scheme acknowledges tourist attractions which achieve a customer satisfaction rating of 94.5% for an exceptional quality experience and welcome to visitors.

Accepting the CIE Tours International Awards of Excellence, Jess Sinnott, Customer Experience Manager at the Irish Heritage Trust which manages the Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum and Gardens visitor attraction, says: 

“We are delighted to receive our third CIE Excellence award for Johnstown Castle. We are especially proud to accept this award on behalf of all of the hard-working team at the Irish Heritage Trust and at Johnstown Castle, who go to every length to ensure our visitors have the best experience possible every day, and the fact that this award is won on the back of our visitors’ endorsement, it is a real testament to the hard work of all our team. We are excited to share that from 3rd February, our opening hours at Johnstown Castle will be extended, and we will be open from 9am to 5pm daily, with those hours extending to 5.30pm from 16th March.”