Prestigious CIE Heritage Award for Cliffs of Moher

DOOLIN, Ireland - Jan. 28, 2015 - PRLog -- The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience in County Clare has been awarded the first ever Heritage Gold award in the annual CIE Awards of Excellence.

CIE Tours International staged their 25th annual Awards of Excellence last night at Dublin Castle where Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD presented the inaugural Heritage Gold Award to the Clare County Council owned visitor attraction.

The Heritage Gold award is presented to the single supplier in any category who has contributed most to the success of CIE Tours International in 2014.

24,334 surveys were completed by CIE customers who visited the Cliffs of Moher as part of a tour in 2014 and an overall satisfaction rating of 95.5% was achieved by the County Clare attraction, which last year saw overall visitor numbers break the one million mark for the first time.

"As a County that prides itself on its quality heritage tourism product, this award is a vote of confidence in the fantastic efforts of management and staff at the Cliffs of Moher, Clare County Council's investment in the facility and the work of the wider Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark network to promote the attraction as a world leading natural heritage site," commented Cllr. John Crowe, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council.

Speaking after the event, Katherine Webster, Director of Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience added: “Everyone at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience takes great pride in this award from CIE, one of our most important tour operator customers.  We look forward to welcoming many more CIE customers to the Cliffs in 2015 and delivering a world class visitor experience to each of them.”

Visitor numbers at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience increased by 12.5% to 1,080,315 during 2014, marking the fourth successive year of increased visitor numbers to the attraction. The visitor centre has also seen substantial investment in product and facilities in 2014 with a spend of over €600,000 on additional coach parking facilities, new exhibition content, restoration works in O’Brien’s Tower and a redesign of the foyer at the visitor centre.

For more visit www.cliffsofmoher.ie.