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The latest e-zine from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council with a round up of Tourism and Hospitality News for September and October 2019 is available to read here.
Antrim Glens Tourism (AGT) Cluster Meeting:
Causeway Coastal Route (CCR) Cluster Meeting:
AGT Cluster Meeting and Christmas Dinner:
AGT Annual General Meeting:
The new Package Travel Directive (PTD) comes into effect in the UK on 1 July 2018 and is now referred to as Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements 2018.
The new definition of a ‘package’ is much wider than we are used to. It won’t just encompass all holidays which include two or more travel services (transport, accommodation, car hire and other tourist services) that are booked under a single contract with a tour operator. It will also include holidays where the services are booked with separate suppliers where the customer selects the travel services from one shop, call centre or website – including through a travel agent – before agreeing to pay.
This wider definition will turn many holidays that are currently sold as Travel-Plus into packages.
Alongside the package, the directive also creates a new type of regulated holiday – the Linked Travel Arrangement (LTA).
An LTA is a holiday that includes two or more travel services but applies when the customer makes a single visit to a shop or website and selects and pays for each service separately.
Click on the following link to see the new Package Travel Regulations 2018
Huge congratulations to all our Antrim Glens Tourism members who received their OCN Level 2 & 3 Heritage Tour Guide certificates on 30 August 2017 in Cushendall.
AGT member tour guides in the photo include (L to R starting 4th from the left : John Robbin (Craicntour), Donnell O’Loan (Antrim Glens Guiding), Mark Rogers (Dalriada Kingdom Tours), Flip Robinson (Giant Tours Ireland), Keven McGowan (Nine Glens Walking Tours), Eamon Robbin (Glen Haven Holidays) and seated far right, Fiona Jones (Glens of Antrim Tours).
The training was delivered by Colette McCafferty and Judith Boyle and sponsored by the Heart of the Glens Landscape Partnership. Deputy Mayor of Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council, Cathal McLaughlin, and Deputy Mayor of Mid & East Antrim Borough Council, Cheryl Johnston presented the certificates to the tour guides.
On Sunday 23 April, local tour guide Eamon Robbin, GlenHaven Holiday Accommodation, led a party of Antrim Glens Tourism members on a walk to showcase Ronan’s Way. There are 4 looped walks along the way of differing lengths, difficulty and steepness which make up Ronan’s Way which is located on the McAuley family farm in Glendun, just outside Cushendun.
The routes were devised by the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust in collaboration with the family to commemorate a project started by 38-year old Ronan McAuley who tragically died in April 2016. Ronan’s Way was opened to the public in October 2016.
The group followed the moderately rated 2.0km Yellow Loop which allows walkers to enjoy the beautiful surrounding countryside and views across Glendun from the land that Ronan McAuley called home.
Antrim Glens Tourism would like to thank the McAuley family for their generosity in giving access to their land and enabling us and other visitors to enjoy the stunning scenery from their farm. Ronan’s Way is truly a fitting memorial.
To find out more about these fabulous walking routes, visit Ronan’s Way .
Twenty Glens of Antrim tourism providers visited Rathlin Island on Sunday 19 February to experience first-hand what’s on offer for visitors. The trip was organised by Antrim Glens Tourism which represents tourism providers across the nine Glens of Antrim and Gateway to the Glens areas.
“This is a great opportunity for us to see and experience Rathlin Island through the eyes of a visitor,” said Mary O’Driscoll, recently elected Chair of Antrim Glens Tourism. “As our members are scattered across the region from Ballycastle to Glenarm and beyond to the Gateways to the Glens, ‘familiarisation trips’ like this help members network with other providers and find out what there is to do and see locally. This will enable us to work together more effectively to promote the Glens of Antrim and the Causeway Coastal Route to potential visitors.”
Following lunch at the recently refurbished Manor House Rathlin, the group visited the Boat House and then dropped into McCuaig’s pub for a quick drink and the opportunity to meet up with many of the other tourism providers on the island to find out what’s new for visitors in 2017.
“We’re delighted that so many Antrim Glens Tourism members have taken the time and trouble to come and visit us,” commented Genevieve McLernon, operator of Manor House Rathlin. “We applaud this initiative to help build product knowledge and partnerships within the local tourism industry. We’ve now signed up as members as we see that the best way to attract more visitors to the area and increase length of stay is to work together and collectively promote the whole region.”
Antrim Glens Tourism membership is open to all tourism businesses across the region and provides a forum where local businesses can work together to maximise their product potential, to raise awareness of the Glens of Antrim as a tourist destination and to help support promotion of the Causeway Coastal Route.
