Galway Bed and Breakfasts

admin — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:37:45 +0000

Galway Bed and Breakfasts - B&Bs in Galway, Ireland

Galway Bed and Breakfasts are the accommodation choice of discerning tourists. Galway Bed and Breakfasts offer the friendliness, flexibility and high levels of service that visitors to the City of the Tribes particularly welcome. Galway Bed and Breakfast proprietors are excellent hosts who enjoy meeting people and are committed to making your stay in Galway truly memorable. When you book a bed and breakfast in Galway, you can be sure that you will feel at home in the company of friends. Owners of Galway Bed and Breakfasts take a special pride in meeting their guests’ requirements. They offer them friendly advice and provide valuable information on local tourist attractions, restaurants, entertainment, shopping and the full range of amenities in Galway City and County Galway.

World No.1 Hotels.com offer very competitive rates for a wide selection of hotels in Galway.

Hotels in Galway

The Hotels in Galway links below will help you to find the Galway hotel that best meets your individual requirements.

The G Hotel

Hotel Meyrick - Eyre Square (formerly the Great Southern)

Glenlo Abbey Hotel

Menlo Park

Best Western Flannery’s

Courtyard, Galway City

Days Hotel, Galway

Connemara Coast

Corrib Village

Courtyard by Marriott

Harbour

Ramada Encore Oranmore

Travelodge

The House Hotel

Imperial Hotel Galway

Renvyle House Hotel

Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Galway

Radisson SAS

Great Southern- Corrib

Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill

Clifden Station House

Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, Clifden

Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, Recess, Connemara

Rock Glen Country House Hotel, Clifden

Cashel House Hotel, Cashel, Connemara

Premier Suites, Galway City

Ibis Galway Waterfront Hotel, Salthill

Oranmore Lodge

Shannon Oaks Hotel, Portumna

Holiday Cottages in Galway

You’ve seen the films, read the literature and heard the music. You’ve listened to others rhapsodising about the joys of life in Galway and the manifold wonders of the West of Ireland. Now it’s time for you to experience the magic for yourself: the skies, the land, the people, the spirit of place. Feast your eyes on Holiday Cottages in Galway; choose your dream destination; and soon you’ll be creating memories that will warm your heart and stories that will last you a lifetime.

“I’ll never forget the time we spent in that magical cottage in Galway ….. “

Galway is a vibrant, friendly city that tourists fall in love with. The City of the Tribes has a thriving youth culture and a richly diverse blend of festivals and attractions throughout the year. Galway City is celebrated for its great pubs, restaurants and colourful street entertainment. Music, conversation and laughter fill the air. The performing and visual arts are widely celebrated. Concerts, displays and exhibitions abound.

The Galway Races, Galway Oyster Festival and the Galway Arts Festival, three of the most successful annual events in Ireland, attract many thousands of visitors from home and abroad. Galway B&Bs are invariably fully booked during these festivals.. Tourist attractions in Galway City: Galway Cathedral (Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas), Lynch’s Castle, St Nicholas’ Church, the Salmon Weir Bridge, Spanish Arch, Galway Irish Crystal Heritage Centre, the Home of Nora Barnacle, the Claddagh, and the National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway). Quay Street is the heart of Galway’s Latin Quarter. Look out for McDonagh’s Seafood House (Clarenbridge oysters); Tigh Neachtain traditional pub with snugs; The Quays (a cellar-like tavern containing church pews); Pierre’s restaurant; and Gemelle’s restaurant.

US Visitors to Ireland

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:06:30 +0000

US Tourists Priced out of Irish Market?

The US dollar has weakened against the euro by around 10% since the start of the year, with inflation and the huge US trade deficit pushing the dollar down.

Dr Alan Ahearn, an Economist at NUI Galway, expects the dollar the keep falling: “We need to get used to a very weak dollar. It’s over 1.50 today and it’s probably going a lot lower. That’s going to be a fact of life.”

Assessing the impact of the weakening dollar on Ireland, he told RTE’s ‘Morning Ireland’: “Anybody exporting into the United States is obviously suffering in the sense that they’re pricing in dollars. The amount of money they’re getting back when you transfer it into euros is falling all the time. That’s squeezing profits; and it’s going to squeeze some of those firms out of the market.”

And what of its effects on tourism?

“We’re also seeing with tourists, which is a service export, that it’s getting very expensive for US tourists coming to Ireland and Ireland’s an expensive country anyway. When I look around the country I’m struck by how many hotels that were built over the last few years and I’m beginning to wonder who they expect to stay in those hotels. I hope it’s not Americans because I don’t see the Americans coming over here in droves.”

Bord Failte Report

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:22:45 +0000

Visitor Numbers Up 5%

Speaking at Fáilte Ireland’s End of Year Review and Outlook for 2008, Gillian Bowler, Chairman of Fáilte Ireland said: “For the sixth consecutive year Irish tourism has grown and it has been generally a very good year for Ireland in terms of total visitors. Overseas earnings were also up, although the rate of revenue growth, at five per cent, was less than expected and just kept pace with inflation.

Overall, many parts of Ireland benefited from the growth in visitor numbers, with most regions experiencing growth. However, the picture between regions remains quite variable with urban centres tending to benefit most.

Predictions for 2008

As for the coming season, the early indications from our latest research points to considerable optimism within the industry with 90% of tourism operators surveyed maintaining that the coming year will be at least as good as 2007.

However given the unpredictable nature of a number of key factors including the weakness of the dollar, oil prices and financial markets, the level of growth for 2008 is difficult to assess.

Importance of the International Market

The reliance on the home holiday market by some sectors of the industry outside of Dublin remains a cause of concern. The number of nights spent in hotels by Irish people increased by 26% in 2007 and accounted for 62% of total nights spent in hotels by all tourists.

Ireland will continue to grow the domestic market while working in close collaboration with the tourism industry and Tourism Ireland on driving growth in the international leisure segment to reduce this reliance.

Mainland Europe produced the strongest growth in overseas visitors with significant increases from France, Spain and the Nordic countries, and good growth from Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

Emerging Markets

The emerging markets in Eastern and Central Europe continue to generate significant increases. More modest growth came from North America and the other long haul markets while visitor numbers from Britain were slightly down on last year.

Visitor satisfaction levels with their holiday in Ireland remained high in 2007 – for 93% their holiday either exceeded or matched their expectations and 98% said they would recommend a holiday in Ireland. Their satisfaction with specific elements of their holiday here was very consistent:

· beautiful scenery (90%)

· friendly people (86%)

· natural, unspoilt environment (80%)

· safety and security (78%)

Tourism across the Regions

The overall increase in overseas visitor numbers is apparent at the regional level although some regions benefited significantly more than others. The North West and South East regions enjoyed above average growth. Dublin, the West and South West also increased their overseas visitor numbers. The performance in East and Midlands was on a par with 2006 while the Shannon region experienced a decline following an exceptionally strong performance in 2006.”

Full report at Failte Ireland under ‘Corporate Communications’

http://www.failteireland.ie/

Bed and Breakfast Visitors

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:20:44 +0000

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Advertise Your Bed and Breakfast

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:03:03 +0000

”They don’t know we’re here!” says Russell

When a B&B owner fails to exploit the power of advertising and online marketing, the result is empty rooms and stagnant revenues.

This is clearly seen in the case of Russell, the owner of a B&B on the Alabama coastline.

He candidly tells B&B owners and investors why his Bed and Breakfast has yet to maximise its revenue potential.

“From a purely business perspective, there are several things we’ve done right. There are also several things we have done (and continue to do) wrong.

Reaching the actual revenue potential involves maintaining the good things we have done while correcting the shortcomings of our business approach.

Things we’ve done quite well

We found a wonderful location

We created a special environment that guests love: Much (perhaps most) of our business comes from “word of mouth” recommendations.

We treat our guests the way we want to be treated: We combine pampering them with leaving them alone. We don’t intrude. People feel at home here.

We carved out a special and unique niche in the marketplace: We are the only place for couples to have a few days on the beach in a quiet, kid-free environment. We are the only place on the beach for those who have less-than-a-week and who don’t want to stay in a hotel or condo. We are the only B&B on the coast. We have no direct competition.

We attracted attention from national media: Through no effort on our part, our special place attracted attention from national media.

Things we have NOT done well

We do not advertise: Except for one small ad in the Gulf Coast Visitors Guide and listings on two B&B websites, we do not do any advertising whatsoever. All our business comes from word of mouth, response to the Gulf Coast Visitors Guide, and searches on the Internet that target Gulf Shores. If someone doesn’t already know about us, they are not likely to find us.

We do not permit online bookings: We insist on talking with prospective guests before they book. For many prospective guests, it’s easier to do an online booking elsewhere.

We have an overly-simple rate structure: We do not charge more for the busier weekend nights, holiday weekends, and other very high demand times.

We have not capitalized on our national media attention: Despite our glowing media reviews we do not have a high profile. Each media review prompts an immediate spike in bookings, which in turn adds to our “word of mouth” reputation, but our failure to market the B&B means that we have not exploited our reputation as we might have.

We know that other hospitality businesses do most, if not all, of these things. But we do not. Why? We don’t do them primarily for two reasons:

1. We are not business people. By temperament, I’m a college professor, and Carol is a mom and now a grandmother.
2. We are comfortable with our established practices and are reluctant to deal with extra complication that “doing things better” would involve.

These may not be good reasons, but they are the real reasons. We are who we are. We’re not business-minded, and we’ve done what we know how to do. It will be for someone else to take revenues to the next level.

The problem is that not enough people know we’re here. And, because we don’t advertise, this is not surprising.

Friends who are in the hospitality business in other Southern locations are shocked to hear that our occupancy rates are what they are. When they learn what our occupancy rates is, they tell us they had thought it would/should/could be 20-to-25 percentage points higher.

We know that a concerted effort to correct our business and marketing shortcomings would result in substantially higher levels of business. However, because we aren’t business-minded people, we do not feel qualified to say with any accuracy what those results might be.