The silver lining on last weekend’s blanket cloud covering was that holiday fever more than kicked in with bookings coming thick and fast at the Fly Shannon Holiday Show at the UL Sport Arena.
Thousands braved the almost incessant mist and rain to attend the two-day free event, which was making its return to Limerick for the first time in nine years. Declan Power, Shannon Airport’s Head of Aviation Development, said: “The rain is definitely good for holidays. We were thinking it was going to keep people away but I think it might have been what got people to come out and book their holiday here. There were loads of discounts so that was a big lure also.”
“It looks like we are going to have the biggest year for foreign and domestic holidays in a decade, but it is no wonder given how bad the weather has been here – people just seem to have had enough and just have to get away,” said Edmund Hourican, Business Exhibitions Ltd. “Exhibitors took a lot more bookings than they had anticipated. We have already agreed to come back and do this on the same weekend next year.
“Spain, Portugal, the USA and UK were, as expected, very popular but we had a lot of interest also in breaks to the likes of the Oktoberfest in Munich, which had particular appeal for the 20somehtings.”
