Irish at Rimini Fair
Ireland was promoted by Tourism Ireland to thousands of Italian travel professionals attending the annual TTG Incontri travel fair in Rimini.
Pictured are David Cleary, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum; Giuseppe Monteverde, Irlanda in Italiano; Elena Toniato, Galway 2020; Ilaria Bianchi, Aer Lingus; Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland; Bridgette Brew, Galway 2020;
George Hook, Irish Rugby Tours.
Six Irish and Italian tourism companies joined Tourism Ireland at TTG Incontri, a B2B travel exhibition which attracted almost 73,000 visitors - including influential tour operators, travel agents and leading Italian travel journalists and bloggers - in 2017.
Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Italy, said:
Garden plan for Ancient East
Fáilte Ireland has set out plans to develop visitor experiences focused on the rich array of gardens and historic houses in Ireland’s Ancient East.
Pictured at the workshop were Alexander Durdin Robertson, Huntington Castle and Eileen O’Rourke Duckett’s Grove, Carlow with Caroline Henry Fáilte Ireland.
Over the next 15 months, the national tourism development authority will work closely with industry across Ireland’s Ancient East to create compelling experiences as part of the ‘Great Houses and Gardens’ plan which will be targeted at core international markets.
More than 20 tourism attractions across Ireland’s Ancient East joined a Fáilte Ireland workshop in the Talbot Hotel in Carlow, which focused on developing visitor experiences which bring to life the layers of history in big houses and gardens across the region.
First gong for Ivy
The Ivy on Dawson St., was named 'Best New Establishment' at the Hospitality Ireland magazine awards yesterday.
The “Best Restaurant” award went to Dublin’s One Pico,
“Best Business Hotel” went to The Westin of Dublin, while “Best Hotel” was awarded to Ashford Castle. The Doyle Collection was named overall “Best Hotel Group
Zozimus took the Best Bar award, Searsons was named overall “Best Sporting Bar”, Bastible was “Best Casual Dining” venue and The House Restaurant at The Cliff House Hotel took the title of “Best Hotel Restaurant”.”.
Fishy Fishy profit
Martin Shanahan landed a large catch of profits last year as those at his Kinsale Fishy Fishy restaurant totalled €182,833.
New accounts filed by Kinsale Gourmet Store Ltd show that accumulated profits at the company last year increased from €1.863m to €2.046m.
Martin Shanahan moved back to Ireland in 1991 and opened a gourmet store in Kinsale, Co Cork, which has morphed over time into a restaurant business that can now seat 160 people.Killashee marks time
Operating profits at the four-star Killashee House hotel in Co Kildare last year increased marginally to €1.99m.
This followed revenues at hotel firm, Craigfort Taverns Ltd, going up from €12.03m to €12.12m last year.
The firm recorded a pre-tax profit of €1.49m after paying bank interest charges of €499,178. The pre-tax profit of €1.49m is less than half the pre-tax profits of €3.74m recorded in 2016. However, the 2016 profits were boosted by an exceptional non-cash €2.5m gain in the increase of the company's property.
The hotel is one of a number of hotels owned by Tetrarch Capital. Other hotels in the Tetrarch group include the Marker hotel in Dublin, Mount Juliet in Co Kilkenny and the five-star Powerscourt hotel in Co Wicklow. 
