Emil Milewski

Components of Irish tourism product

1. TransportAs an island, Ireland is heavily reliant on air and sea transport for inbound and outbound tourism. It cannot rely on road and rail transport for this purpose, except via Ireland’s only land border – Northern Ireland.Having a world – class transport network obviously benefits the inhabitants of the region. However, it is also a key driver in tourism growth. Crucially, it is ok key importance for business tourism, as conference and congress organisers demand an excellent transport network before considering a destination to host event.Internal transport is also a key feature of the chapter given that government and tourism agencies strategy is to spread tourism throughout the regions, rather than focusing it on urban centres of Ireland

2. AccommodationIreland offers various forms of accommodation on offer in Ireland, as in any other market. The choice of accommodation is highly dependent on the guest’s budget. At the low – cost end of the scale there are campsites and hostels, and at the opposite, high – cost end there are luxury hotels. There are several options in between and variations exist within each category of accommodation. This includes different grades and different costs as well as different options.

3. Business and Conference facilitiesMeetings are often scheduled for business people in other cities and countries because they travel to these meetings they are classified as tourists.Conferences attract large numbers of people, and these are also classified as business tourists. Trade unions, politician parties and professional bodies all hold conferences each year. They attract large attendances, and this is an important source of tourism revenue.

4. Food and beverageIreland is not very famous for its indigenous culinary dishes, but it is becoming more famous for the high – quality food on offer as well as the fine dining experience and high – quality chefs who have become brand names in their own right. Ireland has various categories of restaurants to offer, as well as a range of cafes, fast food and snack options.

5. Visitor attractionsIreland has plenty of attractions to offer. These range from man – made cultural and heritage attractions to natural attractions. Together they combine to present the visitor to Ireland with a unique experience. Examples of Ireland’s attractions include galleries and museums, libraries and monuments, religious sites, heritage sites, castle and historic buildings as well as the arts.

6. Leisure and recreationIreland has great deal to offer in terms of leisure and recreation. This includes general entertainment, such as pubs and nightclubs, frequently by locals and traditional music and dancing. These all take place year round. However, there are annual festivals (Wexford Opera Festival, Cork Jazz festival, Galway races, Heineken green energy and the St Patrick’s festival), large concerts, theatre festivals (Dublin International Theatre Festival) and film festivals (International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival).

7. Amenities and tourist servicesIreland require many of the same day – to – day services and amenities that locals do, suc as banking, post office, laundry, medical and health and beauty services. General and gift shopping are also some of the services that both tourist and local enjoy.Some specific services that a tourist needs include tourist information services are provided by local tourist information offices located in major tourist destinations throughout Ireland. These provide accommodation reservation facilities, brochures, maps, event guides and transport listings.

8. Activity tourismIreland also has a plethora of offerings in terms of sport, including both participative and spectator sports. Ireland is an island, the Irish coastline is an attraction in its own right in terms of fishing and water sports, weather permitting. Inland waterways also offer fishing opportunities. Other sporting activities include shooting, walking, cycling and golf to name just a few.

9. Language tourismIreland every year is visited by tourist from all over the world. Most tourist attractions provide tour in foreign languages such as German French, Italian and Spanish.