Major exposure for county as top journalists visit

SEVEN journalists from India, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain who write for tourism publications arrived in Wexford recently to learn more about Fáilte Ireland’s new tourism initiative, Ireland’s Ancient East.

This is just one of a number of visits designed, hosted and managed by Fáilte Ireland in collaboration with Tourism Ireland, to promote the initiative which aims to compete with the Wild Atlantic Way to attract tourists to the South East region. These journalists write for some of the most influential newspapers worldwide including The Hindu in India, which has a circulation of 1.5 million and the Canada Sun, which has one million readers.

Fáilte Ireland designed a bespoke itinerary to give the journalists a first-hand experience of Ireland’s Ancient East including a walking tour of Wexford with local guide Will Collins to hear the rich and bloody history of Wexford, followed by a visit to Tintern Abbey, Colclough Gardens, Loftus Hall, reputed to be Ireland’s most haunted house, Hook Head Lighthouse, the oldest fully operational lighthouse in the world, before finishing the day with a visit to Dunbrody Famine Ship to get a feel for the Irish emigrant experience. The group also took in attractions in counties Wicklow, Kilkenny, Kildare and Meath over the coming days. Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Programmes for Ireland’s Ancient East, said: ‘Ireland’s Ancient East is an evolving project and we are actively working to gain publicity in international publications which will help to persuade visitors to include our new tourism proposition in their itinerary when in Ireland.’