Dublin Hotel Wins Overall National Tourism Accommodation Award
Gulliver Ireland Announces Tourism Property Award Winners
The winners of the Gulliver Ireland Tourism Accommodation Awards 2007 were announced today (Thursday, 1st May 2008), with the Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin securing the overall award.
Now in their fourth year, the Gulliver Ireland Awards identify and honour online marketing excellence achieved by hotel, guesthouse, B&B and self-catering properties throughout the country through their partnership with Gulliver Ireland.
The Judging Panel cited the Temple Bar Hotel’s consistent online availability of various types of rooms through Gulliver’s low cost extranet system, GullNet; an excellent yield management strategy and their high-level online property presentation when awarding the Dublin hotel the top prize.
The Judging Panel considered all accommodation providers using Gulliver Ireland to market their properties for the awards. It selected the winners based on their performance against key criteria, particularly their effectiveness in online sales management including factors such as room availability, allocation, competitive pricing and property information.
Headquartered in Killorglin, Co Kerry, Gulliver Ireland is Ireland’s leading cost effective provider of reservations and tourism information and is part of FEXCO. The company has handled more than 1.4 million bookings, worth more than €260 million, since 1997.
Its database contains all approved accommodation providers on the island of Ireland, irrespective of their size and location. The Gulliver system handles bookings for over 8,000 member properties over the Internet and through Tourist Offices and its international Contact Centre. GoIreland.com, Gulliver’s recently relaunched flagship website, was ranked in the Top 15 Travel and Airlines websites in ‘The Net Behaviour Report’ on Irish Internet usage.
Speaking at today’s announcement, Dr. Stewart Stephens, Managing Director of Gulliver Ireland said, “Linking excellence in online marketing with increased online sales in the minds of tourism property owners lies at the heart of the Gulliver Ireland Awards. By identifying and rewarding excellence in this field, the awards provide tourism property owners, small medium or large, with a beneficial framework for improving online bookings, from domestic and overseas bookers.
“This year’s winners raised the standard in online marketing excellence. Their understanding and use of the fact that the Internet is not just an information channel but also an opportunity to persuade domestic and overseas tourists to make bookings marked them out from the competition. In an increasingly competitive environment where evermore discerning customers book online, effective online marketing allows tourist properties to differentiate themselves and convert more booking opportunities,” said Dr. Stephens.
There are three awards in each of the seven tourism regions, where an award is given to the best hotel, guesthouse and B&B in the respective regions. Special awards are also made to the best GoIreland.com Enhanced Listing and self-catering property. The winners are as follows:
Overall Winner: The Temple Bar Hotel, Fleet Street, Dublin 2
GoIreland.com Best Enhanced Listing: The g Hotel, Wellpark, Galway
Best Self-Catering Property: The Courtyard Self Catering Apartments, College Street, Killarney, Kerry
Dublin Region
Hotel: The Temple Bar Hotel, Fleet Street, Dublin 2
Guesthouse: Leeson Inn, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2
B&B: St Ann’s, 81 Adelaide Road, Glenageary, Co Dublin
South West Region
Hotel: Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre, John Redmond St, Shandon, Cork City
Guesthouse: Garnish House, Western Road, Cork City
B&B: Tara House, Lower Glanmire Road, Cork
Shannon Region
Hotel: Travelodge Limerick, Coonagh Roundabout, Ennis Road, Limerick
Guesthouse: Fitzgerald’s Guesthouse, Lord Edward Street, Kilmallock, Limerick
B&B: Castle View House, Robin Hill, Drombanna, Limerick
South East Region
Hotel: Kilkenny River Court, The Bridge, John Street, Kilkenny
Guesthouse: Butler House, Patrick Street, Kilkenny
B&B: Killarney House, Freshford Road, Kilkenny
North West Region
Hotel: Sligo Park, Pearse Road, Sligo
Guesthouse: Ceol Na Mara, Main Street, Enniscrone, Sligo (This guesthouse also won an award in 2006)
B&B: An Cruíscín Lán, Connolly Street, Sligo
Midlands East Region
Hotel: Days Hotel, Main Street, Tullamore, Offaly
Guesthouse: Sea View Guesthouse, Windgap, Dungarvan, Waterford
B&B: The Old Coach House, Meeting of the Waters, Avoca, Wicklow
Ireland West Region
Hotel: The Clybaun Hotel, Knocknacarra, Salthill, Galway
Guesthouse: Ardawn House, College Road, Galway
B&B: Dun Roamin, Beech Court, Salthill, Galway
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Johanna Waara, Marketing Manager, Gulliver Ireland
Telephone: (066) 9792112
E-mail: jwaara@fexco.com
or
Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications
Telephone: (01) 4830832/ (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie
Notes to Editors:
Gulliver Ireland and GoIreland.com
Gulliver Ireland is Ireland’s leading cost effective provider of reservations and tourism information and is part of FEXCO. The original Gulliver system was developed by Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Following a partnership agreement in 1997, FEXCO acquired a majority shareholding in Gulliver and since July 2004 is the 100 per cent owner of Gulliver Ireland.
Since 1997 a significant investment has transformed the Gulliver database as Ireland’s destination management system and one of the leading systems of its kind in Europe. The company’s destination management system operates an advanced and comprehensive tourism database that provides an information and reservation service for Irish tourism products and services.
GoIreland.com, Ireland’s leading tourism portal and owned by Gulliver Ireland, offers users a comprehensive Irish travel information resource and wide choice of the best value-for-money deals in accommodation and car hire packages. More than 60,000 weekly unique site visitors are received and it was the most booked Gulliver-powered website in 2007.
FEXCO
FEXCO is a global payments company headquartered in Kerry, Ireland with operations in Ireland, the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Malta, Dubai, Australia and USA. The company was established in 1981 by its Executive Chairman, Brian McCarthy, and offers a range of Global Consumer Payments, Global Corporate Payments and Business Services. The company is privately owned with Western Union, a worldwide leader in money transfer, holding a minority shareholding in the business.
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