Summer washout brings mixed fortunes for tourism sector

Ciara Galvin

THE schools are back which means the ‘summer’ is officially over.
With temperatures for the month of July being some of the lowest on record, paired with unseasonable levels of rain, it’s official that ‘Summer 2015’ has been a washout by all accounts.
Summer 2015 saw the annual Reek Sunday climb cancelled for the first time in living memory and many more events cancelled around the county.
The final heat of the World Cup Trout Angling competition in Ballinrobe was rescheduled for the first time in its 56 year history.
There has been mixed reaction from businesses and service providers following the unseasonal weather conditions.
Marketing and Sales Executive of Westport House, Biddy Hughes, spoke candidly to The Mayo News as torrential downpours landed on the lawn in front of the stately home last week.
“Numbers are down on last year but the feedback from visitors has still been great. We’ve had a a lot of Irish visitors and because they know what the summer is like they have come prepared with rain gear,” said Ms Hughes.
Asked if the management of Westport House and Pirate Adventure Park had to implement a ‘Plan B’ due to the adverse conditions, Ms Hughes explained that because of the nature of the park and its attractions, visitors could still enjoy the facilities, rain or shine.  
“We’re an outdoor adventure park, unfortunately we can’t change the weather,” she said.
On a positive note, the rain has meant that more visitors to the estate are visiting the house itself.
“More people are actually coming in to have a look around the house which is great.”

IWAK figures
Sun worshippers seeking a break from the downpours at home have meant that passenger numbers for Ireland West Airport Knock are up by two percent this summer.
According to Donal Healy, Marketing Manager at the airport, of greater significance than the above figure is the load factor (number of seats filled) across the airport’s network is up on average eight percent, meaning that airlines are filling more seats on their planes compared to last year.
“We have had a very strong first seven months of the year, passenger numbers in particular on our UK services have increased significantly on the year to date, helped by large volumes of UK visitors benefitting from the strong sterling currency coming to visit the West of Ireland and in particular the Wild Atlantic Way,” said Healy.  
“It has also been noticeable particularly in the last couple of months the increased numbers of people travelling abroad on sun holidays to the likes of Milan, Barcelona, Malaga etc which have had increases in numbers using these services – the bad weather in Ireland has no doubt helped in this regard,” added Mr Healy.
Co-owner of Clew Bay Bike Hire in Westport, Dave O’Gorman, told The Mayo News that though numbers hiring bikes to cycle the Great Western Greenway were down, business at the shop was still relatively good.
“Business is down compared to last year but we’ve found that people are still cycling the Greenway in any weather. It’s an attraction in its own right, so if you’re travelling to do it, you’re going to go ahead with it in the rain. We’ve found that people tended to cut the route short if the weather is bad” said O’Gorman, who added that the kayaking side of the business was the one most affected by the weather.
“Because it’s so dependant on calm conditions, the kayaking did suffer with the weather, but it’s a smaller side of our overall business that we hope to develop,” he concluded.