Awards for Cork’s ‘unique’ tourism offerings

Five Cork tourism businesses were honoured recently at the CIÉ Tours annual awards of excellence for 2025.

Hayfield Manor Hotel, Kinsale Hotel & Spa, and the River Lee Hotel were all awarded merits in the hotel category.

Blarney Castle and Midleton Distillery Experience received merits in the visitor category.

The CIÉ Tours annual awards of excellence celebrate Irish hoteliers and tourist experience operators.

The awards were presented based on post stay feedback received from nearly 30,000 customers surveyed throughout 2025.

The data and information obtained from these surveys also is invaluable to CIE Tours’ partners, who use it to continuously improve their offering to their clients.

Each of the CIE Tours partners who qualified for an award, delivered in relation to quality experience and welcome to visitors, achieving a customer satisfaction rating of over 92%. Seán Canney, minister of state at the Department of Transport, praised the commitment of tour operators across Ireland and paid tribute to the award recipients.

“These awards are a testament to the high standards of quality that each operator holds and is a well deserved recognition of their work in welcoming CIÉ Tours visitors to Ireland, providing them with unique and unrivalled experiences.

“The Government recognises the importance of the sector and recently launched a national tourism policy statement which sets out a clear ambition to enhance tourism’s economic contribution, support regional development and ensure the industry remains inclusive, sustainable, and adaptable to future challenges, said Mr Canney.

“This is supported by the provision of €233m in Budget 2026 for the tourism services programme which aims to drive regional development and employment in the sector”.