Tralee and Lismore have been crowned the top large and small tourism towns, respectively, by Michael Ring, TD Minister for State for Tourism and Sports. The Fáilte Ireland annual tourism awards recognise those towns that do their best for tourism and where all sectors have supported the strengthening of their local welcome.
Each town will receive a certificate and a grant of €5,000 towards further development in the tourism sector. Eight other towns were highly commended by the judges.
The judging was done by a panel of mystery shoppers and they noted in their judging of Tralee: “The impression you get when you arrive in Tralee is more than just a country town but rather it has a very special offering with a whole world of things to do for visitors.”
For Lismore it was “beautifully maintained and compact, the visitor can step back in time with all the necessary modern facilities and services within reach.” The judges also highlighted the lush and historic surroundings.
The other commended towns were Cobh, Kilkenny and Killarney in the large town category and Ardmore, Adare, Clonakilty, Kenmare and Sneem in the small town category.