UK coaches continue to steer clear of Sligo city
A long-standing member of the UK Coach Tourism Association has said he and his fellow coach drivers have “no intention” of coming into Sligo in the future due to illegal parking and the sharp corner at Stephen Street.
Mr Ken Jones was commenting after a Sligo Champion article published on 18th July last generated much reaction among UK coach operators.
In the article the County Council were reported to have consulted widely with coach drivers about the tight corner from Lake Isle Road to Stephen Street. They reported that most coaches were shorter than 14m.
However Ken Jones, who is a senior member of the UK Coach Tourism Association, claims Sligo County Council “did not consult” with UK coach drivers.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Jones said many UK coach companies drive 14-14.5m long coaches and would be “unable to make this right turn.”
“I just love Ireland and it has so much to offer,” he said from his home in Rugby, Warwickshire.
He claims he was passing through Sligo last week and hoped to stop but cars were illegally parked on Markievicz Road.
“It was very upsetting to see that,” he said. Sligo is still off his company’s itinerary since 2011.
“There’s nothing wrong with Sligo and the great restaurants and good people - it’s the parking and bad habits. There were cars and vans parked on Markievicz Road. It’s very hard to build up confidence that drivers will say ‘yes we’ ll send drivers back to Sligo’ and that’s a shame,” he said.
A familiarisation tour for UK Coach drivers in Sep- tember does not include a stop-off in Sligo town centre.
Spokesperson for the Coach Tourism Association UK Paul Ovington told this newspaper that they were not involved in the organising of the tour itinerary - it was Tourism Ireland.
“Anything that can be done to make sure coach operators are welcome is to be expected from anyone looking to attract tourism to their areas,” said Mr Ovington.
“The coach operators will steer clear if there’s nowhere to park,” he told The Sligo Champion.
This newspaper saw people illegally parked along Markievicz Road last Friday and saw one woman getting a parking ticket.
Tourism Ireland, when contacted, admitted that the upcoming British coach operators familiarisation visit and workshop will not stop in Sligo town.
Media and PR Manager Sinéad Grace said: “We can’t send all of the trips to one city.”
However she said an annual UK inbound tour operators’ familiarisation visit and workhop is coming to Sligo this autumn. “The workshop will take place in the Radisson SAS and the buyers will get to spend quite a bit of time in and around Sligo.”
“These UK tour operators will be encouraged to feature Sligo in 2018,” she said. They’re also bringing a Canadian travel trade group to Sligo this autumn.