Displaying items by tag: Irish Travel Industry Awards

16th January 2015

Cruise Operator Finalists Announced for Irish Travel Industry Awards

#AwardFinalists - Finalists for the Irish Travel Agents Association's Industry Travel Awards 2015 have recently been announced for an award ceremony to be held next week.

The Irish Travel Industry Awards (ITAA), are the premier awards for suppliers and travel agents in Ireland. The awards are designed to showcase excellence in the delivery of international travel services to both leisure and business customers travelling from Ireland.

The Awards will commend a range of companies from air and sea transport companies, through tour operators, destination representatives and specialist service providers to the trade.

The Mansion House, Dublin, will be the venue for the award ceremony on Thursday January 22, when winners will be announced including those in the category from the Ferry & Cruise industry, sponsored by the Port of Cork.
Below are the following operators that have been nominated from three-sub-categories:

Best General Cruise Company
Celebrity Cruises, Fred Olsen Cruises, MSC Cruises, NCL, Royal Caribbean International

Best Ultra Luxury Cruise Company
Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises – Yacht Club, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises

Best Specialist Cruise Company (including River)
AMA Waterways, MSC Cruises, Riviera Travel, Royal Caribbean International and also nominated is Uniworld

Best Ferry Company
Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, P & O Ferries, Stena Line

To view the list of all the other categories, click HERE.

Published in Cruise Liners

Tagged under

Irish Ferries Voted Best Ferry Company for Fourth Year in a Row

#ferries – Irish Ferries has been voted Ireland's Best Ferry Company for the fourth year in succession at the Irish Travel Industry Awards held in Dublin recently.

The award was bestowed on the company by a vote of Irish travel agents and comes in the week when the company launched its new weekend direct return service between Dublin and the French port of Cherbourg.

Providing what the company's head of passenger sales Dermot Merrigan said is 'a third route option that augments the company's existing services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and Roscoff', the new 19-hours service is operated by the ferry vessel Epsilon departing Dublin every Saturday afternoon and arriving Cherbourg the following morning. Sailings return later each Sunday in time to arrive back in Ireland on Monday morning.

Published in Ferry

Tagged under

Irish Ferries Win Best Ferry Company

#FERRY NEWS- Irish Ferries has won the 'Best Ferry Company' award at the Irish Travel Agents Association travel industry awards held last night in the Mansion House, Dublin.

This was the thirteenth time that the award has gone to Irish Ferries since the event started two decades ago. The award which was presented on foot of votes cast by travel agents and their staff employed throughout the island of Ireland was accepted jointly by its head of passenger sales Declan Mescall and passenger sales manager Marie McCarthy.

Thanking travel agents for the honour their decision bestows on the company, Mr. Mescall said that the Best Ferry award reflects the high standard of service which passengers can now expect from Irish Ferries.

'In addition, it recognises the numerous developments that have taken place in the company in recent times, including the introduction of class leading advances in electronic communications, the most recent being the introduction of the industry's first bookable smart phone app which was launched just months ago' said Mr. Mescall.

The award follows Irish Ferries parent company Irish Continental Group (ICG) whose Dutch based container division Eucon Shipping and Transport was awarded Short Sea Shipping Company of the Year Award 2011, sponsored by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).

Eucon operate regular feeder services to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Southampton from the ports of Belfast, Dublin and Cork.

Published in Ferry

Tagged under

Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

The Irish Government's target to install 5,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in our maritime area by 2030 is set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. It also has the objective to source 80% of Ireland’s electricity needs from renewables by the same year. In line with this, ESB is applying its professional and proven engineering expertise to the challenges set within the Climate Action Plan.

ESB are committed to playing a strong role in developing Ireland’s offshore wind potential for the benefit of the people of Ireland. This will be done in consultation with marine users and local communities, and with due care for the marine environment.