This article is from page 12 of the 2006-10-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
FIGURES released by the main tourism operator in the Midwest show that it failed to capitalise on the record growth in passengers at Shannon Airport last year.
According to accounts returned by Shannon Heritage to the Companies Office, visitor numbers at the company’s visitor attractions, including Bunratty Folk Park, recorded a drop from 629,233 in 2004 to 625,615 last year.
This comes against the background of record growth at Shannon Airport where 3.3 million passed through the airport in 2005 – an increase of 900,000 on any previous year.
The launch of Shannon as a hub for Ryanair in May of last year is a large contributor to the massive rise and today, Ryanair serves 26 European destinations from Shannon.
However, the figures from Shannon Heritage show that across its top attractions a drop in visitor numbers were recorded last year.
In all, the company operates eight-day visitor attractions and four evening entertainment venues around the Shannon Region.
The figures show that visitors to Bunratty Folk Park dropped from 324,903 in 2004 to 316,813 in 2005, while the numbers at the Bunratty Banquets dropped from 69,171 in 2004 to 66,999 in 2005.
The O’Brien’s Tower attraction at the Cliffs of Moher was one of the few visitor attractions to buck the trend with numbers increasing from 78,365 in 2004 to 81,283 in 2005.
Despite the drop in numbers, Shannon Heritage’s accounts show that the company recorded an increase in profits from €139,659 in 2004 to €196,458 in 2005.
The accounts show that the company also increased its turnover from €11.3 million in 2004 to €11.9 million in 2005.
The company now has accumulated profits at €734,059.