TRALEE, Co. Kerry is Ireland’s BEST large tourism town after being chosen from a shortlist of 10 towns commended in the 2015 Fáilte Ireland Tourism Town Awards.
It was Tralee’s second time in three years to appear in the Top 10 and this year’s achievement has been regarded as a major vote of confidence for a town that has made great strides in recent years.
Lismore, Co. Waterford, won the best small tourism town accolade.
The Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD, said: “The people of Tralee and Lismore truly understand tourism and value their visitors. Ultimately, this shows in the quality of what they have to offer and in the warmth of their welcome.”
Tralee was one of four Kerry towns to feature in the Top 10 Tourism Towns with Killarney, Kenmare and Sneem finishing as runners-up in the respective categories.
The CEO of Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kieran Ruttledge, who accepted the award on Tralee’s behalf, said: “In Kerry, tourism is everybody’s business and in Tralee almost 1,000 people are now directly employed in tourism related enterprises. Earlier this year Tralee became one of Ireland’s Top 10 Towns according to reviews on TripAdvisor, we retained our Tidy Town Gold Medal and we’re in the Top 3 Towns in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) Survey. Tralee has always had the potential to be a top tourist town and now that potential has started to receive recognition. We must thank our members, Kerry County Council Tralee Municipal District and the various volunteer groups who have contributed to this and other recent success stories.”
The winners of the Tourism Town Awards, who receive a tourism development grant of €5,000 each, were chosen from a shortlist of 10 towns commended for impressive performances in reaching out to visitors and creating the “best possible” tourism experiences.
The full shortlist was as follows:
- Adare, Co. Limerick (small)
- Ardmore, Co. Waterford (small)
- Clonakilty, Co. Cork (small)
- Kenmare, Co. Kerry (small)
- Lismore, Co. Waterford (small)
- Cobh, Co. Cork (large)
- Killarney, Co. Kerry (large)
- Kilkenny (large)
- Tralee, Co. Kerry (large)
- Sneem, Co. Kerry (small)
Nine out of the ten shortlisted towns are from Munster.
Tralee is a weather-proof town with over 70 things to do – inside and out – and full details of where to stay, eat and have fun are available from Tralee.ie.
For more details on what to do or where to stay and eat in Tralee, visit Tralee.ie.
