FOR horse lovers, the RDS often means Dublin Horse Show, however the Simmonscourt pavilion recently hosted Holiday World which had no shortage of equestrian theme holidays, from day trips to bucket list road trips.
Amid the Wild Atlantic Way stand visitors was Minister for Trade, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD.
Niamh Flynn, from the Irish National Stud, explained about their plans for the tourist season, saying: “Ireland’s Ancient East is a new marketing campaign run with Failte Ireland, so you have Dublin - A Breath of Fresh Air, the Wild Atlantic Way and now Ireland’s Ancient East. ‘The Sport of Kings’ is one of the integral stories of Ireland’s Ancient East, so the Irish National Stud is at the heart of this and, of course, we also have horse racing on our doorstep.”
The Stud and Japanese Gardens reopened recently at Tully for the tourist season, which coincides with four-legged arrivals.
“Last year was another bumper year with 124,000 visitors, up 4,000 from the year before, which is phenomenal. Our market is predominantly domestic so 65% of our customers are Irish. The biggest trade workshop is Meitheal which is actually going to be in Punchestown racecourse this year.”
For bespoke packages in the land of Northern Lights, geysers and whale watching, Wallace Travel Group offer packages to Iceland.
According to their representative, Joanne Hegarty, one excursion option is a three-hour trek on five-gaited Icelandic horses to Heidmork, with its numerous caves and canyons.
Even further afield in Argentina, home of polo ponies, gauchos and pampas lands, Andrés Guiñazu tells how St Patrick’s Day has become a week-long festival in parts of Buenos Aires.
AMERICAN DREAMS
Topping many North American holidaymakers wishlist is the iconic Route 66 road trip, from Chicago to California. St. Louis, home of the Budweiser Clydesdales, is a must-see.
“It’s a real bucket list thing to do, people’s eyes light up when they hear Route 66. St. Louis is the second biggest city, outside of Chicago on Route 66 and we were the first North American city to host the Olympics in 1904. We’re four and a half hours south of Chicago by car, so do two nights in St. Louis and experience all we have to offer, from the Gateway Arch, baseball and lots of quirky, fun attractions,” suggests St. Louis Convention’s Renee Eichelberger.
Route 66 continues through the adjoining ‘Heartland States’ of Kansas and Oklahoma, where adventurers can stop off at Midwest landmarks such as Dodge City or ride across prairies, once crossed by the Pony Express, on cattle round-ups during a dude ranch stay, as advised Matt Bates, from Kansas/Oklahoma Travel & Tourism.
Texas is another popular destination for an Irish fly-drive market. Julie Greenhill said: “The big draw is cowboys, followed by music and food. Austin is a big draw, San Antonio because of its history and you can even spend one night in Amarillo, if you’re doing Route 66.”
The convenience of pre-immigration clearance facilities in Dublin or Shannon is a major selling point. “Flights from Ireland would be either Chicago, New York or Atlanta. You can go via London but most people prefer to do pre-clearance here, they don’t want to go backwards to go forwards,” is her practical advice.
Qatar Airlines will start daily flights from Dublin on June 12th and their representative Padgett Johnson said, “We’ll have the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner on the Dublin-Doha route and have onward connections to 150 worldwide destinations”. The Airbus A380 ‘double-decker’ is already in use on some of their Qatar-Australia routes.
And for the ultimate dream trip for equestrians, how about top-class show jumping followed by an epic train journey through the Canadian Rockies? Craig Upshall said: “Several people were even enquiring about combining Spruce Meadows this summer with the Calgary Stampede, followed by a Rocky Mountaineer trip to Vancouver.”
All aboard!