Cork tourism businesses honoured at Fáilte Ireland awards

Three Cork tourism businesses were recognised as top employers at Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence Awards which took place in the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny.

Ballyhass Adventure Park, won the Best Employer – Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Award; The Goldie Fish & Ale Restaurant, won the Best Employer – Ireland’s Ancient East and Elbow Lane Brew & Smoke House won the Best Employer – Food and Drink Award.

The awards ceremony celebrated businesses who have demonstrated their commitment to making the tourism industry an appealing and rewarding place to work through their participation in Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme. This is the second year of the award ceremony.

The 14 winning businesses are:

Outstanding Employer: O’Callaghan Coaches Kerry; Best Employer - Wild Atlantic Way: Sandhouse Hotel, Donegal; Best Employer - Ireland’s Ancient East: Goldie Fish and Ale; Best Employer - Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands: Ballyhass Adventure Park, Cork; Best Employer - Dublin: DoDublin; Best Employer - Large Business: Trump International, Clare; Best Employer - Medium Business: Aspect Hotel Parkwest, Dublin; Best Employer - Small Business: Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny; Best Employer - Attraction: GPO Museum, Dublin; Best Employer - Food and Drink: Elbow Lane Brew and Smoke House, Cork; Best Employer - Hotel Group: PREM Group, National; Best Employer - Golf: Carne Golf Links, Mayo; Best Employer - Adventure: Vagabond Tours, Wicklow; Best Employer - Tour Operator/DMC: Odyssey International, Dublin.

Speaking at the event, Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly said: “Tourism has an unparalleled track record of providing a diverse range of employment opportunities in communities the length and breadth of the country.

“The Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards are a celebration of the businesses who have set the industry standard for employee engagement and workplace culture in the tourism sector.

“According to our latest labour market research, this positive impact can already be seen as 88% of employees in the sector now view tourism as a long-term career option, an increase of 17% on the previous year.”

The Employer Excellence Programme was developed by Fáilte Ireland to continuously build quality workplaces that offer appealing and rewarding careers where employees can develop and progress. In just two years, considerable progress has been made with 64% of employees saying they enjoy the unique benefits of their role and over 70% recognising improved employee communication and involvement.

More than 260 tourism businesses are currently participating in the Fáilte Ireland programme which launched in September 2022.

Tourism businesses who are interested in joining Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme can find out more at https://www.failteireland.ie/employerexcellence.aspx”