Incentive - August 2008 - (Page 57) TRAVEL Northern Ireland is an emerging region for incentive travel Planner Resources Tourism Ireland U.S.: (847) 516-0038 www.irelandinspiresus.com DMCS & FULL-SERVICE PLANNERS Moloney & Kelly Travel www.moloneykelly.com Ovation Group www.ovation.ie Paula Ward’s Ireland www.pwi.ie Taylormade Incentive Travel e-mail: taylormadetravel@eircom.net Dublin and a sojourn in a wonderful country castle hotel. San Diego–based planners TBA Global organized a two-night stay in Dublin with five nights at Dromoland Castle in County Clare for one of the U.S.’s largest independent distributors of life insurance, West Coast Life. “Our incentive programs are for the Top 50, Million Dollar Qualifiers,” says Mark Rush, senior vice president at West Coast Life, based in San Francisco. “We look for certain criteria in selecting a destination— security, premier properties such as the Four Seasons, and the ‘Wow’ factor.” “Coming into Dromoland Castle, we had our coaches accompanied by a ‘hunting party.’ Irish bagpipers and 50 extra waitstaff in tuxedos offered our participants Champagne from 50 individual silver trays. The clouds parted and a rainbow appeared.” (Be sure to get a “rainbow guarantee” from your DMC!) Jail. You can have them do a “sea thrill” adventure in Dublin Bay or a sophisticated hobnob with the Lord Mayor of Dublin in a fancy Georgian mansion. Excellent incentive hotels include the Four Seasons Hotel Dublin; The Merrion Hotel; The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel; the Westin Dublin and The Westbury Hotel. Just outside Dublin, there’s the RitzCarlton Powerscourt in County Wicklow and The K Club in County Kildare, with its famous golf courses. These two properties provide easy access to the South East— Waterford and Wexford (President John F. Kennedy’s ancestral home). “Ireland was a perfect incentive destination for our recent group of six hundred from a major insurance company,” says Kevin Dern, program manager for the Lexington Group in St. Louis, Mo. Paula Ward’s Ireland, based in Dublin, was the local organizer for the incentive trip. “It provides the allure and excitement of Europe in a country where English is spoken and travel is easy. The stories of friendly Irish people are not exaggerations,” says Dern. “Everyone we worked with was wonderful, from Paula Ward’s team to bus drivers, hotel staff and local guides. It’s what made our program such a pleasure.” TBA Global www.tbaglobal.com HOTELS Four Seasons Hotel Dublin www.fourseasons.com/dublin The Merrion Hotel www.merrionhotel.com Westin Dublin www.westin.com/dublin Dromoland Castle www.dromoland.ie Ashford Castle www.ashford.ie Sheen Falls Lodge www.sheenfallslodge.ie >> In Dublin, there are any number of incentive activities that are fun and enlightening. You can send your group on a literary walking tour, on a pub crawl or to a tasting at the Guinness Storehouse, off to the famed Trinity College or to the infamous Kilmainham East Capella Castlemartyr www.capellacastlemartyr.com Kingsley Hotel http://kingsleyhotel.com The Merchant Hotel (Belfast) www.themerchanthotel.com | August 2008 | Incentive | 57 incentivemag.com http://www.irelandinspiresus.com http://www.moloneykelly.com http://www.ovation.ie http://www.pwi.ie http://www.tbaglobal.com http://www.fourseasons.com/dublin http://www.merrionhotel.com http://www.westin.com/dublin http://www.dromoland.ie http://www.ashford.ie http://www.sheenfallslodge.ie http://www.capellacastlemartyr.com http://kingsleyhotel.com http://www.themerchanthotel.com http://incentivemag.com
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