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To mark the launch of the latest season of the hit TV series Vikings, Tourism Ireland has launched a new online video campaign featuring two of the show’s leading stars this week. Georgia Hirst (who plays Torvi) and Jordan Patrick Smith (who plays Ubbe), bring fans on a virtual tour of some of their favourite places to visit in Ireland’s Ancient East and Dublin.

  The two online films – which will attract around 2 million views – are being rolled out on Instagram and Facebook in over ten markets around the globe and have been designed to inspire fans of Vikings to come and discover Ireland’s Ancient East and Dublin for themselves.

In the films, viewers see Georgia Hirst and Jordan Patrick Smith travel to Wicklow, visiting places like Powerscourt Estate, Luggala Mountain and Brittas Bay Beach. They also highlight some of their favourite places to visit in Dublin – including Dalkey, Temple Bar and Christ Church Cathedral.

Two of the world’s leading associations for serviced apartments and corporate housing have announced plans to form a global advisory panel to help drive recognition, safety and duty of care for this worldwide industry.

 The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP), which operates predominantly in the UK and Europe, along with the Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA), which has a wide presence in the U.S., Canada and South America, are formalising an international advisory panel to open communication and create a global voice for the industry. ASAP and CHPA welcome other trade associations in this sector to collaborate and join these conversations.

An  hotel General Manager (GM) inadvertently double-booked a wedding with a golf tour as he was drinking with the bride’s father when the booking was made.

That was one of the disputed allegations made against the GM in the case where a Co Monaghan hotel owner hired a private investigator to determine the scale of the GM’s drinking during work hours and the hotel sacked the GM in July 2017 on foot of the investigator's report.

 The GM sued for unfair dismissal and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has upheld his claim after finding that the hotel’s procedures in sacking him were flawed.

 The WRC assessed the GM’s loss to be €50,000 but has awarded him the reduced amount of €15,000 after finding that his contribution to his dismissal was 70pc.

Festival organisers from 40 national festivals across the country attended the first of a two day Fáilte Ireland masterclass at the Spencer Hotel, Dublin, created to build world-

class festivals and develop skills in growing international visitors.

 Festivals motivate over 200,000 overseas visitors to come to Ireland and contribute €108m to the economy every year. New research into Fáilte Ireland funded festivals shows that 58% of festival attendees from across four of our key markets; the UK, US, Germany and France, are repeat visitors and almost 60% of overseas visitors attend festivals outside of Dublin. Festivals are crucial to the tourism sector, and were highlighted in Fáilte Ireland’s recently launched 2019 plans as a key component to continue to grow tourism, extend the season and spread tourism benefits across the country.

 This new research has also identified five key factors that deliver a successful festival for tourism. Successful festivals have: