Wednesday 7th February 2024: CIE Tours, the largest carrier of US visitors to Ireland every year presented its annual awards to the hoteliers and tourism experiences which achieved approval ratings of over 92% from the 25,000 tourists who travelled to Ireland with the company in 2023.
The Awards recognise Ireland’s hospitality ambassadors, the people and businesses throughout the country who put Irish tourism on the global stage through the warmth of welcome and quality of service provided to our international visitors.
Cavan’s Cabra Castle was awarded the CIE Tours Awards of Excellence, for the ‘best hotel dinner’. The award recognized its meals served in the lovely banqueting hall that leaves a lasting memory for those that visit.
The CIE Tours Awards of Excellence were presented by Stephen Cotter, Interim CEO of CIE Tours.
Congratulating Cabra Castle on achieving a CIE Tours Award of Excellence, Mr Cotter said; “Year on year huge effort is made by our partners to improve and enhance their offerings based on the feedback we provide to them from our annual visitor surveys. Their dedication and commitment help to maintain Ireland’s reputation as a leading destination for US visitors. We are delighted to recognise Cabra Castle and its contribution to Irish tourism, and the contribution it makes to the local community in terms of jobs and wealth creation”.
Mr Cotter said that CIE Tours now employs over125 people in Ireland, the US and the UK and bookings in 2024 are ahead of expectations.
“Our more than 90 years of coach tours in Ireland gives us unrivalled expertise as evidenced by our overall customer satisfaction rating of more than 95%. 2023 exceeded our expectations with36,000 people travelling with us to Ireland, England, Scotland plus our new destinations of Iceland and Italy added in 2019. Bookings for 2024 are ahead of expectations and interest in Ireland spans every corner of the country. This focus on both urban and rural tourism is intentional, as it supports the company’s sustainability goal of partnering with a diverse set of regional and independent businesses to extend economic benefits into local communities”.
Mr Cotter shared that in 2024 and beyond CIE Tours will continue its commitment to sustainability launched last year with the establishment of a Responsible Tourism policy. The company is implementing a carbon strategy and will be hiring a dedicated sustainability manager to work with tourism partners to identify projects that will benefit the environment and local communities.
“We are also looking at ways to reduce our own impact and I am delighted to announce that this year we are operating a coach powered by biofuel on the more than 60 departures for our Irish Gold Tour. It is an example of the innovation we see across the sector as it adapts and responds to the need to reduce environmental impact while continuing to deliver an exceptional experience to visitors”, said Mr Cotter.
Pictured (L-R): Stephen Cotter, Interim CEO of CIE Tours, Rosanne Zusman, Chief Commercial Officer, CIE Tours, Agata Wieczorek-Zapora and Michelle Hunt, Cabra Castle.