Blue Book Press Releases

Launch of the 2009 Edition of Ireland's Blue Book

Belfast, November 4th, 2008: The launch of the prestigious 2009 Blue Book guide took place on the 4th of November. A reception was held in the Harbour Commissioners in Belfast to celebrate this event. Guest of Honour was Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster and over 100 guests attended the reception.

Membership of the Blue Book is by invitation only and it enjoys the reputation of being the connoisseurs guide to the finest accommodation and fine dining in Ireland. One new property, The Ice House Hotel in Co. Mayo, has been admitted to the ranks of this elite collection for 2009. The Ice House has garnered several awards and accolades since it opened its doors in 2007 and offers a very high standard of contemporary luxury accommodation in an iconic building located on the shores of the River Moy outside Ballina.

Ken Healy, President of Ireland's Blue Book told the audience "it is wonderful occasion for the Blue Book to be launching the 35th edition of Ireland's Blue Book in Belfast as the Blue Book was the first tourism association to embrace an all island membership and our first N. Ireland member joined us back in 1987, over 21 years ago. We now have now grown our membership in Northern Ireland to include five magnificent properties, who contribute substantially to the tourist product in this important region.

This year has proved to be a difficult year for the hotel industry worldwide but the Blue Book members are well positioned to weather any downturn in the market through their affiliations with tour operators and the HHE and HHA (Historic Hotels of Europe and America). This guarantees exposure for the properties at the highest level in both Europe and the U.S. In addition the twinning programme of Blue Book members with properties within the HHE expected to give an enormous boost to our image. It puts us on a par with the finest properties on the continent."

The 2009 Blue Book is available at all regional tourist offices, good bookstores and through the head office of the Blue Book.

For further details please contact: Contact: Hilary Finlay, Ireland's Blue Book, 8 Mount Street Crescent, Dublin 2. Tel: (+353) 01 6769914 E mail: mail@irelandsbluebook.com

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