Welcome to Travel Directories Ireland Newsletter for Autumn 2018

Tourism News

Irish hotel stays sikely to get more expensive as VAT Rate returns to 13.5%
The Government will restore the VAT rate for the hospitality sector to 13.5%. The tax for the sector was cut to 9% to stimulate the tourism industry in 2012, but will now be restored from 1 January as part of Budget 2019.
The impact of the measure will mainly be seen on hotels, other short-term guest accommodation providers and restaurants.
However, it will also apply to other areas businesses, including cinemas, theatres, hairdressers, museums and art galleries.
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Tidy Towns Results
Congratulations to Listowel, Co. Kerry who were the overall winners of the Tidy Towns Competition 2018
Best Village: Glaslough, Co. Monaghan
Best Small Town: Listowel, Co. Kerry
Best Large Town: Westport, Co. Mayo
Best Large Urban Centre: Ballincollig, Co. Cork
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Brexit uncertainty may be taking toll on tourist traffic at Dublin Port
The latest quarterly figures showing a fall-off in tourist vehicles and passengers from Britain and mainland Europe.
The figures show the number of tourist vehicles entering the State via the port fell by 1.5 per cent to 405, 907 in the third quarter of this year, while the number of ferry passengers, the bulk of which come from Britain, was down by 0.6 per cent to 1.48 million.
Overall passenger numbers, however, rose by 3.3 per cent to just under 1.7 million, principally because of a 43 per cent jump in cruise passenger numbers, which rose to 212,297.
Dublin Port has begun erecting new buildings for customs officials to check vehicles coming off ships and ferries after Brexit.
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Travel and Tourism Statistics
The following table shows trips made to Ireland from January to June 2018, compared with the same period in 2017 and also indicates where the visitors came from. more>>

Travel News

New Flights
Dublin Airport
• Ryanair will have nine new services at Dublin next summer: Bordeaux, Bournemouth, Cagliari, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Lourdes, Luxembourg, London Southend and Thessaloniki.
• Canadian airline Westjet will launch a new direct route (three days per week) from Dublin to Calgary next summer.
• Russian airline Aeroflot will operate a new daily service to Moscow from October 28th 2018.
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Cork Airport
• Ryanair has announced four new twice weekly services from Cork. Malta and Poznan commencing in March 2019, Budapest starting in April 2019 and Naples in July 2019.
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Shannon Airport
• Ryanair has announced four new twice weekly services from Cork. Malta and Poznan commencing in March 2019, Budapest starting in April 2019 and Naples in July 2019.
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Shannon becomes first European airport to have facial recognition installed for US preclearance
The introduction of the new facial technology system in recent months has seen Shannon become the first airport outside the Americas to use facial biometrics to verify the identity of travellers about to enter the US.
The programme has already been successfully implemented in several US airports and was also extended to Aruba Airport in the Caribbean.
The facial recognition technology essentially verifies passengers by matching them to the documents they are presenting.
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Busiest August Ever At Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport welcomed more than 3.2 million passengers last month, making it the busiest August in the airport’s 78-year history.
Passenger numbers increased by 6% last month helped by the introduction of 14 new routes over the summer period and extra capacity on more than 50 existing services. August was the second consecutive month that Dublin Airport has welcomed more than 3.2 million passengers.
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Events Autumn 2018

AFL European Cup 2018
13th October, CIT Cork.
The annual nine-a-side tournament see’s European national sides face off to contest for the title of champions of Europe, with England holding the crown in both men’s and women’s divisions heading to Cork in 2018.
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Wexford Spiegeltent Festival
12th – 29th October
From its inaugural year in 2012, Wexford Spiegeltent Festival has grown to be one of the biggest and most successful multi-genre festivals in Ireland. Set in the beautiful surroundings of the Paradiso Spiegeltent, the Festival has a unique and enticing atmosphere, blending the Olde Worlde feel of the Spiegeltents with the best in popular entertainment.
The 2018 Festival runs for 17 days and nights and the eclectic programme of events features contemporary music, comedy, theatre, film, classical music, burlesque and more.
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Farmaphobia Scream Park
12th – 31st October, Navan, Co. Meath
Ireland’s most horrifying Halloween Event: Farmaphobia now in its 10th year will open on Friday 12th October 2018 and has had over 160,000 visitors to date.
Journey through a frightful evening of screams and laughter… eerie corners, blood-curdling frights, ghoulish entertainers, heart-pounding, adrenalin pumping, life-threatening fear… your worst nightmares come true!
Farmphobia consists of 5 scare attractions with lots of other scaretainment taking place around the farm, guaranteeing a unique and great and different night out.
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Haunted Spooktracular Horror Farm
12th – 31st October. Kells, Co. Meath
Are you looking for something exciting and unique to do this Halloween? Haunted Spooktacular, Ireland’s first horrifying adult scare attraction now in its 14th year will be the ultimate Halloween attraction for this October 2018.
Team Spooktacular are preparing to crank up the fear to the extreme for 2018 and make it their scariest yet, with a whole host of new attractions to be announced.
Whether you’re a Horror movie fanatic, or a Halloween junkie, love to be petrified or just enjoy the detail of a highly interactive one-of-a-kind experience, Haunted Spooktacular has something for everybody.
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Bram Stoker Festival
26th – 29th October, Dublin
Whether you’re a resident vampire or visiting from further afield, Bram Stoker Festival 2018 has something for everyone in its gothically inspired programme of events. Get ready for four days of living stories and four nights of deadly adventures as Dublin gets gloriously gothic this October Bank Holiday Weekend.
The Bram Stoker Festival playfully celebrates the gothic, the mysterious, the after-dark and the thrill of Halloween, and delves into the legacy of one of Ireland’s most treasured authors. The packed programme of events devilishly mixes family-friendly adventures with late-night antics for mates, dates and everything in between.
From unforgettable, spectacular parades to pop-up Victorian fun parks, with intimate performances in unusual spaces, live music, workshops, theatre, podcasts, audio tours and a whole range of film, literary and once-off events, Bram Stoker Festival is full of surprises.
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Limerick Halloween Tour & Ghoulish Stories
26th October – 4th November
Get spooked this Halloween. Join us for one of our guided haunted halloween tours featuring lots of ghoulish stories!
Tour takes in St Munchin's Graveyard and Bishop's Palace, both located in the heart of Limerick's medieval quarter on Church Street, King's Island, Limerick
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Recipe

Haunted graveyard cake
Prep: 45 mins - Cook: 2 hrs
Serves 10

Method
1. To make the ghosts, heat oven to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼. Whip the egg white in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar a tbsp at a time and keep whisking for a couple of mins until the mixture is thick and resembles shaving foam. Gently spoon the mixture into a large freezer bag, then cut a 1.5cm hole in one of the corners. Cover a baking sheet with some baking parchment. Carefully squeeze a small circle of whipped egg white out of the bag, pulling upwards as you do to make a ghost shape. Repeat until the mixture is used up – you should get about 15 ghosts. Bake for 1½ hrs until crisp. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
2. Now make the cake. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the cocoa powder, self-raising flour and sugar into a large bowl, breaking up any clumps of sugar. Mix together the eggs, milk and oil in a measuring cup or bowl, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir everything together until smooth. Grease and line a deep baking dish (20 x 30 x 5cm) with baking parchment. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 30 mins. Leave to cool, then turn out onto a serving plate. Alternatively, wrap well and store for up to 2 days.
3. Finish decorating the cake: heat cream in a saucepan until just boiling. Place the dark chocolate in a large bowl and pour over the hot cream. Stir until the chocolate melts. Use a clean brush to paint a layer of chocolate over 7 rich tea finger biscuits, then set aside to cool. Pour the rest of the chocolate mixture over the cake and smooth over with a knife. Whizz the chocolate cookies, or bash in a freezer bag with a rolling pin, until small crumbs form. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.
4. Place the white chocolate in a small bowl, set over a pan of simmering water. Leave for 5 mins or until melted, then spoon into a small freezer bag. Wait for 10 mins so the mixture is not too runny, then cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag. Pipe out 2 small blobs onto each ghost, place a silver ball on each to make eyes, then pipe out suitable words and shapes on the gravestones. Leave for 30 mins to set, then push the biscuit gravestones into the cake and arrange the ghosts around. To get the ghosts to ‘fly’, push a thin wire (you can get these from a florist shop – remember to remove before eating) into the bottom of the ghost, then place in the cake, hiding the wire behind a gravestone.

For more recipe ideas click here more>>

Quote

“We learn from failure, not from success!”
- Bram Stoker

Slán

Travel Directories Ireland
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