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Vicky Williams

TOURISM & TRAVEL

Tourism Study of an Irish County

County Cork 

Introduction

As an assignment for my travel and tourism studies I must complete a tourism study

of Co. Cork. I must research the county in terms of location and population, things to

do in the county, accommodation available, the problems within the county, the

impact tourism has had on Co. Cork and potential problems associated with tourism.

I must also research the future development of this county’s tourism.

Co. Cork, with a population of a total of 481,395 people, which is 119,418 in the city

and 361,877 in the county, and one of the 6 counties making up the Provence of 

Munster, is the largest county in Ireland and Cork city itself is the 3rd largest city in

Ireland. It is situated at the mouth of the Lee Valley, which is generally regarded bymost as a beautiful scenic valley.

Cork city dates back to the 6th/7th Century with the foundation of a monastery built by

St. Finbarr. The city is also home to an important deepwater ferry port and a

commercial and manufacturing centre, founded by Norse Invaders.

Cork city is famous for its sandstone and white limestone used on buildings and

 pavements throughout the city and county itself. A good example of this is when

taking scenic drives around Cork, it is noticeable that the local sandstone is used in

the road surfaces as the roads tend to be brick red in colour, very different to that of 

other counties throughout Ireland. In my assignment I will research deeper into the

counties activities and things to do, visitor attractions and accommodation as well as

investigating the problems associated with Corks tourist industry and the impact

tourism has had, and will have in the future.

At the close of 2009 the City’s international appeal was again recognized by the

selection of Cork by leading Travel Guidebook, Lonely Planet, as one of the Top Ten

cities in the world to visit in 2010 – “Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2010.”

Research Undertaken

I used many different forms of research for my investigation, varying from books to

websites and personal experiences when taking family holidays in Cork.

The books I used are:

The shell guide to Ireland (Lord Killanin & Michael V Duignan)

Ordanance Survey Leisure Guide Ireland

The websites I used are:

www.corkcity.ie/tourism

www.lonelyplanet.com/europe/travel tipswww.googlemaps.ie

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www.google.ie

www.goireland.com

Tourism Product

Cork city could be compared to Venice, as a city built on water, and designated as theEuropean Capital of Culture in 2005 the city has undergone substantial development.

The Cork people are also regarded as the most talkative of all the Irish people.

In terms of looking at the tourism produce, I will first look at Cork in terms of ease of 

access for tourists. Following my research I have discovered that Cork is one if the

few counties in Ireland which is relatively good in terms of access. Cork has its own

international airport which would be the number one form of access to the county for 

foreign tourists. Last year over 3.2 million passengers flew into Cork Airport and

33% of these passengers were tourists flying to Ireland for leisure reasons. Cork 

airport now offers scheduled flights to over 60 different destinations each week, all

over the world during the summer months. Cork also boasts ferry access as well as air access. Ferry access is offered to Cork from Roscoff by Brittany Ferries and from

Swansea to Cork by Swansea Cork Ferries. Ferry access to Cork is fairly limited as

the ferries only come from Swansea (Wales) an Roscoff (France). This however can

 be helpful as people who wish to travel to Cork by ferry can land bridge through

France or Wales. County cork also offers one of the best counties in terms of road

access and routes throughout Ireland. That is in terms of the condition of the road

surfaces wouldn’t be one of Ireland’s strong points. Cork city can be accessed by a

series of interconnecting main roads including the N8 which joins up, on the outskirts

of the city, with the new motorway the M8, from Cork to Dublin. The N22 is the main

road from Cork, which runs all the way in a North Westerly direction through the

county to Killarney, a huge tourist hot spot in Co. Kerry. The N20 goes Northwards

from Cork to Limerick. The N27 is the main road which goes from the city to Cork 

Airport and the N28 being the main road from Cork city to Ringaskiddy, where the

ferry port is located. The N71 is another main road which goes from the city, down to

the West of the County, which would be a big tourist area especially during the

summer months in Co. Cork. Therefore, road good road access is important to this

area. Public transport is fairly limited in the county of cork however. As expected,

with Cork being the third city of Ireland, public transport e.g. rail and bus is good to

the city and throughout the city. The main rail route would be from Dublin to Cork 

and there is good bus services throughout the city. This is limited to only the city.

Rail is nowhere to be found in the west of the county, just the east of the county e.g.Midleton train station. Bus services are also limited to mainly the east of the city

with very limited service to the west of the city. Public transport tends to only be

good and reliable for about a 20 mile radius around the city and throughout big towns

in the county such as Mitchelstown and Mallow which would be on route from the

Dublin-Cork rail route anyway. So in terms of public transport the city would be well

served, but the county would be fairly poorly served.

Accommodation

Cork city and county offers a wide range and variety of accommodation. There is

endless choice of hotels from 3 star to top of the range 5 star hotels. There are endless

B&Bs, hostels, self catering houses and B&Bs and camping and caravan sites tochoose from.

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A few of the popular hotels in the city that are fondly frequented by guests from all

over the world are: Jurys Inn Cork hotel, The Imperial Hotel, Cork Metropole Hotel,

Hotel Isaacs, Best Western Ambassador Hotel, Carlton Hotel Kinsale, Silver Springs

Moran Hotel, The Maritime Hotel. A few of the luxury hotels in Cork that visitors

could check out located in the city centre as well as in the near vicinity of the Airport

are: Radisson Hotel, Cork Airport, Radisson Hotel (City Centre), Gresham MetropoleCommodore Hotel. There is no shortage of hotels to choose from, when there is 100+

Hotels in the City and County of Cork. Some of these hotels only open during peak 

season times and others are open all year around. There are about 30 camping and

caravan sites throughout the county to choose from each offering different facilities

and on site services so its always good to compare them all before making a decision.

Self catering, in my opinion is a very nice form of accommodation when holidaying

and especially in Cork as there is a huge number of self catering houses up for rent

throughout the county situated in every possible location e.g. some in walking

distance from a town, others right on the edge of the sea. Its up to the tourist to

choose from the wide selection on offer. Irish Cottage Holiday Homes, Trident

Holiday Homes and Inishbeg Holiday Homes are just three of the many groupsoffering self catering cottages and houses to accommodate tourists.

Visitor Attractions & Things To Do

Cork is definitely without a doubt not short of things to see and do for tourists. There

are plenty of visitor attractions and would Cork would be as varied in activities and

things to do as Dublin, for people of all ages and interests. From Music, Sports, Pubs

and Nightclubs to Museums, Zoos, Art Galleries and Family Trips out, a tourist

couldn’t ask for much more choice of things to do when visiting a small country.

There is a downfall with corks attractions and things to do as with every county

throughout Ireland, that is there are very few undercover indoor activities. By this I

mean that Ireland doesn’t tend to have the good weather for outdoor attractions all

year round, but most of the attractions throughout Ireland and Co. Cork likewise are

outdoor attractions and activities. Cork would benefit from more indoor activities for 

tourists, so they’re not left with nothing to do on a cold rainy day. There are still

however a wide choice of things to do within the city and county.

As voted by past tourists of Cork the top 10 visitor attractions in cork city are:

1) The English Market & Experience of Cork Cuisine

2) Blackrock Castle Observatory

3) City Centre Boutique and Designer Shopping4) Cork City Festivals

5) Bell Ringing at Shandon and visiting The Butter Museum

6) Crawford Art Gallery

7) Cork City Gaol & Lifetime Lab

8) Stroll through UCC & Visit Glucksman Gallery

9) St.Finbarr’s Cathedral

10) Traditional Sporting Fixtures.

As voted by past tourists of Cork the top 10 visitor attractions in the county are:

1) Blarney Castle

2) Fota Wildlife Park  3) Barley Cove Beach

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4) Beara Peninsula Scenic Drive

5) National Mountain Bike Centre

6) Golf  

7) Beara Peninsula Scenic Drive

8) West Cork Model Railway Village

9) Cobh Queenstown Story & Titanic Trail10) Water Based Activities (Whale Watching, Sailing)

If the tourist has an interest in Nature and Countryside Longueville House and

Gardens, Mallow dates back to the 1720’s. Dromaneen Castle set on the 500 acre

estate still owned by the O’Callaghan family. Lisalen House and its 30 acres of 

Gardens is also popular among countryside and nature orientated tourists. Last but

not least, is Fota House and Gardens reflecting life in the 19 th and 20th centuries.

Cork boasts an extensive 1100 kilometre coastline abundant with Beaches for summer 

seaside holidays. Some of the safe and popular beaches would be: Youghal Strand,

Clay Castle, Garryvoe Beach, Ballinspittle beach, Inchydoney Beach, Rosscarbery

Beach, Tragumna Beach, Garrylucas Beach, Garretstown Beach, Owenahincha Beachand Barleycove Beach. There are also 8 islands off the coastline of Cork. 2 of the

most famous of the islands would be Garnish Island, a short boat trip from the small

fishing village of Glengariff in West Cork, famous for its rare plants and ornamental

shrubs which are allowed grow by the warm microclimate caused by the Gulf Stream.

Sherkin Island is the other known island in Cork, famous for its Marine Station, which

is a family run business that carries out long term monitoring of the flora and fauna

along the west cork coastline. For those tourists interested in Heritage, Culture and

History, Cork has plenty of such attractions. For example there is Desmond Castle

and Wine Museum in Kinsale, Mallow Castle, Cloyne Round Tower, Conna Castle,

Kinsale, Blarney House and Gardens, Kanturk Castle, Belvelly Castle, Glanworth

Castle and Dominican Friary, Coppingers Court Rosscarbery, Macroom Castle and

many more.

All weather facilities

Despite Irelands reputation for bad weather, I feel this would certainly be a poor area

in Corks tourism facilities. There are few all weather facilities and things to do when

the weather is bad, in the county and I feel this is the case in most counties throughout

the county. I feel that more money should be put into developing all weather touristattractions and things to do, indoor facilities as the county is definetly lacking in such.

There are a few indoor leisure centres (swimming pool, sauna and Jacuzzi) but a lot of 

these require membership to be used, so are therefore not aimed at the tourist market.

Also there are a few indoor games halls and arcades but these would be relatively

small and the main one is in Cork city itself. This wouldn’t really be aimed at the

tourists either, such facilities are mostly used by local people. They are nothing

spectacular for tourists.

Activity holidays in Cork 

Activity holidays in cork are well catered for. There are lots of different activities for tourists to take part in while holidaying in cork. One of the most popular types of 

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activity holidays among tourists in cork would be horseriding/equestrian activities.

There are endless equestrian centres located throughout the county so it is easy to find

a centre in close proximity to where you are staying. Hop island Equestrian Centre,

Rochestown, Cork is a popular equestrian centre. Hop Island Equestrian Centre is

approved by the Association of Irish Riding Establishments (A.I.R.E.). They offer top

quality facilities for livery, lessons for all ages and abilities in a range of disciplines,as well as trekking and cross country trail riding in the surrounding country side. They

also provide a weekly beach ride at one of our local sandy coastlines. Coolcorron

Stud Farm and Equestrian Centre, Belgooly, Cork is another popular equestrian centre

with a high reputation. More equestrian centres around the county are Eden Hill

Horse Riding Farm, Mallow, Co. Cork, Tulligmore Equestrian Centre, Ballinhassig,

Co. cork and Bridestown Equestrian Centre, Glenville, Co. Cork.

Another popular type of activity holiday tourists could avail of while in Cork is Sea

Kayaking, off the Beara Peninsula, Castletownbere, West Cork. There is two hundred

square miles of open water which is used by the centre on all year round. Sea

Kayaking West Cork Ireland specialize in half-day, one and two day trips. On thesetrips parcipitants will be supplied with a gourmet lunch with a choice of squid,

mackerel, organic free range pork, wild venison and wild mussels. The food is cooked

on the beach on a pan or in a smoke box and served with dressed salad followed by

local West Cork cheeses and Coffee.

Another very popular activity centre for tourists is the OysterHaven Activity Centre,

Kinsale, Co. Cork. In this activity centre participants can take part in Sea Kayaking,

Sailing and windsurfing and find accommodation in the activity centre in the self 

catering cottages available for rent.

Ballyhass Lakes, Mallow, Co. Cork, is a spring water trout fishery and activity centre

ideal for fishing activity holidays. The fishery has two separate lakes. The main lake

is 12 acres of spring water some 35 feet deep and is reserved for fly fishing only. It

can be fished by boat or from prepared fishing stands on the bank. On lower lake,

worm spinning and bubble and fly methods are permitted and extensive safe fishing

stands surround the lake. The fishing lodge has an extensive tackle shop for fly and

 bait, and rod hire. The fishery is open 09.00 to dusk 364 day per year. Tuition on fly

fishing is available. The activity centre at Ballyhass has kayaking, raft building and

trout fishing on the spring clean water, rock climbing and abseiling on the limestone

rock faces, and specially constructed low ropes courses, archery and team building

games on the lawns.

For tourists wishing o partake in walking holidays then there are also endless choices

in the lines of organised walking activity holidays. Examples are Hillside Walks,

Glenlough West, Bantry, Co. Cork, FootFalls Walking Holidays which is an 8 day

walking holiday which takes participants walking through Cork and Kerry and

Extreme Ireland another 8 day walking vacation through Cork and Kerry.

What age range of people would most enjoy Co. Cork as a holiday destination?

In my opinion Cork, unlike a lot of other counties in Ireland would be one of the best

counties for tourism with regards to attracting the widest range in age and widestvariety of people as there is a bit of everything on offer for all the different interests of 

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tourists. What I mean by this is that there is Cork City and Cork county. The city, in

my opinion would be an attractive location to young single tourists looking for the

nightlife that can be availed of in the city. Cork city is known for its good nightlife

with college students and a wide choice of pubs and nightclubs open. Cork city also

has the games centres and arcades for young people and the shopping areas also.

Cork city has a good public transport service for tourists to use so getting around isn’tan issue for young tourists. The airport is close by which also makes the city an

attractive holiday location for young tourists.

The county then, I feel is an attractive spot for the older generation as it has such a

slower pace of life and also still retains the culture of the typical irish countryside.

The county would also appeal to tourists who want to embark on adventure type

holidays as there are so many different type of adventure breaks for tourists to take

 part in. I feel that the county of cork would also appeal to families with young

children as it is a safe and place of little threat for parents to feel safe with regards to

their children. I do however feel the age group of people who would least enjoy Cork 

as their holiday destination would be the young teenagers (13-17 year olds.) I feelthis as they are in the transition from childhood to adulthood and It is at this age they

start to want independence from their parents and want to go out to discos etc, but are

still too young too go out to to pubs and nightclubs, therefore I feel that there is very

little for them to do on their own, that will occupy their minds and prevent boredom,

unless they have an interest in sports. I do feel that this age group would find both the

county and city a more boring holiday destination.

Key Issues

One of the main key issues affecting Cork as researched would be Dumping. Illegal

dumping is an issue that affects Cork county greatly and has an impact on corks

tourism. An article in Corkman.ie describes how the illegal dumping of domestic

waste by the roadside is turning a well known beauty spot near the village of Glenville

into a virtual rubbish tip. Animals and pests then add to the issue as they scavenge

through the dumped rubbish. Illegal dumping looks very unsightly and such an issue

could ruin tourism even in the most scenic locations. Such an issue needs to be dealt

with quickly to avoid the problem escalating and getting any worse. Illegal dumping

is an eyesore for tourists and may well put tourists off visiting a place. It gives the

area a feeling of being run down and dirty and this isn’t good for the tourist industry.

If tourists see this kind of thing it often makes tourists move from the area and they

may not visit the place again as they remember it as a dirty littered place. Illegaldumping affects many other beautiful scenic area in the county of cork as such scenic

areas are dark and quiet at night so the people dumping the rubbish don’t easily get

caught.

Beach pollution in the form of fishermen and trawlers waste and rubbish is a problem

on some beaches on the coast of county cork so this issue must be watched closely in

order for tourism in county cork to be as good as it should be. Too many tourists

could also lead to pollution of beaches around the coast as there would be more litter 

thrown around destroying the natural beauty of the beaches, coastline and the flora

and fauna of the area. Warden must be in place to look out for such issues during

times of large numbers of tourists in the areas to make sure such pollution doesn’toccur.

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There is also the issue of more tourism in the area would result in the destruction of 

the natural beauty of the county. Too many tourists in an area tends to lead to things

 being destroyed and the environment being changed and ruined by tourists and by

different attractions being built to accommodate the tourists as has happened in other 

countries in the world. It is said that too much tourism leads to the destruction of thetourism as it destroys what initially attracted tourists to the area.

Conclusion

From my research on the tourism and the attraction of county cork to tourists I feel

that this county would be an attractive tourist destination for international visitors and

that they would thoroughly enjoy their holiday here if they made a special effort to

visit the county. There is plenty of things to see and do here for all tastes and interests

and there is plenty of varied accommodation available of different standards and star 

ratings, for tourists to choose from. I do think however, that the best time to visit the

county would be in August and September when Ireland usually gets the best of thesummer weather, to enjoy the holiday to its full potential as a visit to county cork as

with any other county in Ireland relies a lot on good weather to make the holiday what

it should be. I feel that international visitors would also experience a taste of 

traditional irish culture by visiting county cork, whilst also having the amenities and

facilities of modern day life in most places also. The traditional irish culture can be

found in lots of remote areas around the county where people are still living in the old

fashioned traditional Irish ways and this is a huge attraction to international visitors. I

would recommend county cork as a holiday location to my friend and would suggest

maybe a holiday of 7 days during late August or September would be about the right

length of time and the right time of the year to visit. I think that 7 days would be

enough as it would be enough time to get around the county and see most of the main

attractions around the county and 7 days would include one weekend which could be

used by my best friend as a city break, and stay in the county for the 5 week days. I

think that much longer than 7 days would result in boredom.

 

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