Although Kerry is a perennial global tourist destination, it’s the local people make sure it retains the friendly character and intimate feel that make it so popular.
In February 2016, Trivago named Killarney as one of the top 10 global tourist destinations in the world! This success was due not only to the destination’s scenery and activities, but also the hospitality sector. With some of the most highly rated hotels in the world, we are proud to say that Killarney is the only destination within Ireland or UK to be named within Trivago’s top 30.
Kerry is home to two of Ireland’s native Irish speaking (Gaeltacht) areas one on the Dingle Penninsula and theother on the Iveragh Peninsula. The Kerry Gaeltacht encompasses a geographical area of 642 km2 and has a population of 8,729, representing 8.6% of Ireland’stotalnative full-time Irish speaking population. The Irish speaking areas only add to the lore of the countryside. This region is rich in culture and folklore brought to life through music, theatre, dance and the written word and is a fascinating step for all our visitors into our heritage and history.
It is said in Kerry that, There are only two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Kerry. One is not of this world and the other is out of this world! The Kingdom of Kerry, with our forty shades of green fields, the wild Atlantic Ocean to the west and the highest mountains in Ireland, is eulogized in myth and song. Visit the Skellig Islands, a UNESCO world heritage site, drive the the 179km Ring of Kerry circuit, breathe in the rugged coastal beauty and sail the Atlantic shore. After you’ve exhausted yourself outdoors take time to sit by the fire and listen to the traditional Irish music, sample local artisan food, laugh with the locals and listen to the native Irish tongue (as Gaeilge) being spoken around you.
Explore the 2,500 km last frontier of rugged, unspoiled, untamed Ireland, where land and sea collide along the “Wild Atlantic Way”; the longest defined coastal drive in the world.
Showcasing some of the most dramatic coastal landscapes to be found, Kerry sits on the far western edge of Europe, looking out across the Atlantic Ocean. Times and tides may have changed but Kerry has constantly evolved with them and our relationship with the and and sea remains unfaltering. We are an original community of farmers and fishermen that have evolved with time to a modern county with all the amenities and conveniences you would expect, but even in the 21st century we retain our own particular language, literature, art, song and dance.
All this and more that makes Kerry one of the most secenic and memorable places to visit in the world.
Kerry is a place to experience nature at its wildest, to explore the history of our ancestors, to walk the footprints of history, to experience great events, great food and drink and music, and of course, to have great craic!
Look out to sea and see two jagged crags – Oileáin na Scealaga – rise out of the Atlantic: Little Skellig and Skellig Michael; one of the wonders of our world and beyond!
The search for solitude led pilgrims to the edges of the known world – and in this case beyond “to a galaxy far far away” – throughout history, but there are few final destinations rival the remoteness of Skellig Michael; a lonely, storm-lashed rock off the west coast of Kerry that doubled as a Jedi sanctuary in “Star Wars – The Force Awakens.”
The trip to the Unesco World Heritage-listed monastery perchedon this forbidding pinnacle in the Atlantic is a highlight of visiting Kerry.
The monks who landed at Skellig Michael as early as the 6th century rowed 11.6km to this island outcrop, which with the Atlantic Ocean can prove to be a difficult journey even on a summer’s day. They stayed for over 600 years, a startling amount of time considering the true end-of-the-world location or the ‘edge of the abyss’, as one of Skellig’s tour guides says.
So we challenge you to step into the abyss.
Face the foreboding rock faces.
Hunt for hidden coves.
And bask on beautiful beaches.
Kerry, where ancient history and future worlds collide…
Kerry Food Share is Kerry’s largest foodbank, an initiative of North, East, West Kerry Development and St Vincent De Paul, which operates to prevent both food waste and food poverty in the County. FSK takes both FEAD (Food from the European Union Fund for the Most Deprived) and surplus food from local hotels, businesses and suppliers, delivering it to charity partners who redistribute it to families in need.
Food Cloud will take donations of excess food from events, who will collect the food on site at no extra cost and arrange for distribution to appropriate charities.
Have something that could potentially be used by a charity for another purpose such as cardboard boxes, wooden pallets etc? Left over materials can be recycled and provided to DEIS schools, such as Lyreacrompane in North Kerry to use as Arts and Craft materials.
Alternatively, liaise with the venue for assistance to connect with other local organisations who could reuse materials, helping to reduce landfill waste and further a circular economy.
As a county, Kerry is committed to ‘Keeping it Green’, putting the focus on protecting the environment and developing a green economy.
Home to both Siamsa Tíre, Ireland’s first accredited Green Theatre and Events Centre and world leading hotels such as The Europe Hotel & Resort and The Killarney Park who operate on 100% green renewable energy, and The Rose Hotel, whose Head Chef has just become the first person in the world to complete a newly established Environmental Sustainability Management in Hospitality qualification.
We are extremely proud of how our industry have embraced a sustainability ethos, and the steps that many of our hotels, venues, activity providers etc are undertaking to put in place Green Teams, implement measures to reduce environmental impact and for some, undertake third party sustainability accreditation.
Within Kerry Convention Bureau, all our familiarisation programmes and events are paper & single use plastic free.
We are members of Sustainable Travel Ireland and Green Travel and work closely with organisations such as Sustainable Events Alliance and Fifty Shades Greener to stay informed and ensure that we are adopting best practice, accessing current training opportunities and in turn, sharing these with our members.
Reducing your carbon footprint is a highly recommended step for event planners and tourism businesses that care about our climate and their emission levels. We strongly encourage visiting event planners, KCB Members and our industry partners to consider offsetting any emissions they produce.
Kerry Convention Bureau works with two organisations who offer Carbon Offsetting initiatives; Sustainable Travel Ireland and Flogas.
Both organisations have partnered with South Pole, a gold standard provider of emissions-reduction projects worldwide.
Sustainable Travel Ireland have created a group carbon-offset scheme for the Irish tourism industry, which can also be utilised by event planners when holding events in Kerry.
The scheme offers a wide array of internationally accredited offsetting projects, including hydropower, clean drinking water and forest protection schemes.
Visit Sustainable Travel Ireland for more information and handy tools to calculate and offset through one of its chosen high-impact projects. and note, members of Sustainable Travel Ireland can avail of discounted rates.
Member Hotels of Kerry Convention Bureau, who are or become customers of Flogas, can avail of the carbon offsetting scheme currently offered by Flogas to all its business customers throughout Ireland.
For a minimal fee, Flogas will purchase carbon credits on behalf of commercial customers, investing in sustainable global projects that either reduce or capture an equivalent amount of carbon emissions.
Examples of the supported projects include forest protection, providing access to clean and efficient LPG cookstoves, supporting renewable energy projects and wastewater treatment and biogas utilisation projects. For more information on how to get involved, contact Flogas.
Kerry Convention Bureau offers a free and impartial service, providing expert local advice, venue sourcing and facilitating connections to passionate, local suppliers who are committed to working together to make your event a success
A dedicated team of professionals at Kerry Convention Bureau are on hand to help event organisers bid for and host a successful conference in Kerry.
2nd Floor
Tourist Information Office
Beech Road
Killarney, Co. Kerry
Ireland