German and Swiss travellers will read all about Offaly and cruising on the Shannon

Nine leading journalists from Germany and Switzerland have been visiting Offaly and enjoyed a cruise on the River Shannon, as guests of Tourism Ireland and German cruising tour operator, Le Boat.

Representing various print and online publications, with a combined audience of hundreds of thousands of readers – or potential German and Swiss holidaymakers – the journalists were here to find out more about cruising holidays on the River Shannon and its tributaries, and to experience at first-hand the spectacular scenery and the wealth of things to see and do in this part of the Ireland.

The group cruised to Shannonbridge and dined at Flynn’s Bar & Restaurant in Banagher. The next day, they visited Clonmacnoise and Ballinahown Craft Village.

German and Swiss journalists at Clonmacnoise jetty with Daniel Farrell, Tourism Ireland (fourth left).

Zoë Redmond, Tourism Ireland’s manager for Central Europe, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to bring this group of journalists to Co Offaly and Ireland. Fact-finding visits like this are very important; they are a really effective way for us to get positive exposure for Offaly through the media in Germany and Switzerland, helping us to showcase cruising holidays and the superb tourism experience on offer in this part of Ireland to hundreds of thousands of potential German and Swiss holidaymakers.”

2014 was the strongest year ever for visitors to Ireland from Germany and Tourism Ireland is undertaking another busy programme of promotions throughout 2015, to keep the momentum going and build on that success. 2015 has got off to a positive start, with the most recent CSO figures showing growth of +4% in visitor numbers from Germany, for the January to March 2015 period.