November 2019

IAAT Showcase November 20th 2019

Munster Vales is proud to announce that we are going to host the annual Ireland’s Association for Adventure Tourism (IAAT) Conference in Charleville Park Hotel in November. It will be a two day event with attendees coming from every corner of the country, the attendees will be a mix of tourism providers and tour operators. Munster Vales is delighted to collaborate with Cork County Council, Ballyhoura Country and Pure Cork in order to secure this significant event for the area.

Wednesday November 20th will be the first day of the event and will consist of the attendees visiting a range of local tourism attractions and eateries, the aim of this is to highlight the hidden gems on offer in Munster Vales, gain profile as a high class holiday destination and hopefully encourage the tour operators in attendance to put more of our attractions on their itineraries.

You are invited to join the attendees on that evening in Charleville Park Hotel and set up a stand in the function room where we aim to showcase all that the region has to offer between 7-9pm. If you have pop up stands, brochures, videos or a business card and would like to attend and network it could be of benefit to you. It will be an informal affair and a good opportunity to make contacts. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in attending.

IAAT Conference November 21st 2019

The IAAT is an independent representative association for the adventure tourism sector on the island of Ireland. This sector is one of the fastest growing and most exciting within Irish tourism and the IAAT aims to work with adventure tourism operators to develop the sector in a sustainable and responsible manner. A major aim of the founders of the IAAT when they sat down to form the association was to create an annual conference to bring all of the industry stakeholders together to share ideas, network and gain insight from industry experts. The 2018 conference was held in Mullingar and was a huge success, you can read more about that here

The keynote speakers will be announced later this month and the tickets for the conference will be available to purchase, I will circulate an email when the event is live.

New Content Available

Munster Vales commissioned photographer and videographer Cal De Brí to capture new content and I am sure you will agree that he did a super job. The videos and images are available to download at the links below and I would encourage you to use them on your social media and websites. I have also attached the Munster Vales logo, it would be much appreciated if you could embed the logo on your website and use #MunsterVales on your social media posts.

New Munster Vales Brochure

With thanks to LEADER funding through South Tipperary Development Company we have created a new master brochure for Munster Vales. Please note that we did a small print run and for the next edition we will be mentioning different businesses and attractions so that everyone will get a feature, as you imagine it is impossible to fit everything into one brochure! I have attached the brochure in English, French, German and Italian, feel free to print off the translated versions for your guests and upload the pdf’s to your website for visitors to download.

Recent Media Coverage

We have been busy as ever securing media coverage for the area, please find links below to recent coverage that we have gained:

• Michelle Jackson (The Novel Traveller) spoke at length about different Munster Vales attractions on the Elaine Show on Virgin Media 1 recently, coverage starts from the 5.10 mark: The Elaine Show- Munster Vales

• The Sunday Times 3 page article

• The Hindu (Indian newspaper)

• Irish Daily Star article (please find the attached jpeg)

• Irish Independent piece to be published on Aug 17th or 27th

In Other News

• Ballyhoura Country officially launched the Ballyhoura Trails Guide App to help walkers, hikers, scramblers and adventurers to navigate the area and keep up to date on everything Ballyhoura related. The app can be downloaded for free on the Apple or Google Play Store. Download app here

• Suir Blueway Tipperary was officially launched in May 2019. The Blueway is 53 kilometres in total, 21 kilometres are accessible by bike or foot where visitors can follow the towpath from Clonmel to Carrick On Suir. Visitors to Cahir can walk from Cahir Castle to the Swiss Cottage and vice versa, this consists of a 4km walk. Visitors can enjoy watersports trails stretching from Cahir to Carrick On Suir through some of Ireland’s most picturesque landscapes and fascinating medieval towns. More info available here Suir Blueway Tipperary

• Nire Valley Eco Camp opened its doors at the beginning of July 2019. They are taking the concept of glamping to a new level. Think “bedroom in a meadow”. The cabin bedrooms don’t just have a view, they’re in the view. Find our more here Nire Valley Eco Camp

• The Copper Coast Geopark offers an education in the cultural and historic sites of the Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark, but did you know that there is much more to explore? Whether Surfing or Sandart, Seaweed or Cycling, some really interesting activities take place with trained Geopark ambassadors right here within the Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark. For more information Coppercoast Geopark

• Tipperary County Museum is set to reopen in September after an exciting refurbishment with thanks to Ireland’s Ancient East funding which aims to ‘enable people to experience the cultural richness and pride of Tipperary through collecting, caring, interpreting and displaying the material history of our county for the enjoyment, education and benefit of all our users’. Keep up to date by following them on Facebook

• The Robert Boyle Escape Room is situated in the Lismore Heritage Centre and has proved a big hit with visitors from near and far this year! Gather a few friends or family members and see if you can crack the code and escape within 60 minutes! Book here

• The Knock Me Down Challenge organised by Knockmealdown Active is taking place on September 7th in Newcastle, Tipperary. This multi-disciplinary event involves Cycling, Running, (or walking) and Kayaking in the most spectacular scenery imaginable! If you feel that you or your visitors may be up for the challenge find out more info here

• Saint Declan’s Way is a pilgrim walking route linking Cashel in County Tipperary and Ardmore in County Waterford. It follows the route that Declan took when going to Cashel to meet Saint Patrick in the fifth century. The St. Declan’s Way Committee, a voluntary group with representatives from along the route, having been working since 2015 to revive this ancient pilgrim path. Work is progressing thanks to funding of €150,000 from the Rural Recreation Fund, Department of Community & Rural Development. We anticipate that the route will be fully signposted, waymarked and officially approved during 2019. Keep an eye on this website and the Facebook page for updates; St Declan's Way, Anyone who wishes to walk the route in the near future can follow the Blue Waymarkers to navigate St. Declan’s Way. Alternatively, if you would like to take part in a led walk contact Cahir House Hotel who can organise same. Email [email protected].