Bodrum: Wonders Never Cease!

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Bodrum used to be called Halicarnassus, was the birthplace of Herodotus, the father of History and was home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. I learned this from classical scholar and teacher, Pádraic O’Sullivan, under an azure sky… Read more »

Cycling the Ring of Kerry – 180km in a day

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Cycling the Ring of Kerry – sometime after 04:00 A thin frame of bright light leaks out in the gap between the heavy drapes and the wall of the room. You reach for the phone. 4:30am. Too early. Far too little sleep for what lies ahead. You turn from… Read more »

Shining White Nights in St Petersburg – Astoria 100

by Padraic Giligan, Vice President Industry Relations, MCI Astoria 100 – A Grand and Lavish Affair I have a lot to say about St Petersburg but I’ll start with the party because, after all, that’s the reason I went there. The Hotel Astoria is celebrating 100 years of hospitality in 2012 /2103. I anticipated something… Read more »

Villa Kennedy: “rus in urbe” seclusion in Frankfurt

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI Defining the Destination Experience Destinations need hotels like Villa Kennedy. Hotels like Villa Kennedy lift the destination experience beyond the ordinary and alter outdated destination perceptions and lazy prejudices. When you stay at Villa Kennedy your image of Frankfurt changes the way Clark Kent becomes Superman. The… Read more »

Cancun’s Secrets

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC I Like Mexicans In a previous post I stated that I’d never met a Neapolitan that I didn’t like. The same applies to Mexicans and probably for the same reasons. It’s their relentless humanity, their passionate joie de vivre, their cultivation of chaos. This week I’m back in Mexico,… Read more »

The Best Place to Holiday in Ireland

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua First published in 2013 I’m re-publishing this post to mark the launch of Fáilte Ireland’s new tourism brand – Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Cornafurrish is the townland in Co Offaly where my late father was born 100 years ago this year. It’s also the best place to holiday in Ireland…. Read more »

Naples – 5 things you should know

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Naples and Ireland have many things in common none more so than the cast-iron connection, in both locations, between people and place. Ireland, as a destination, is largely defined in and through its people. So is Naples. This is mainly a good thing as it roots the… Read more »

Italian Diary – a Week in Italy

By Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Florence – 18 April 2013 I’ve visited Rocco Forte hotels in Brussels, Berlin, Prague and St Petersburg but this was my first visit to a Rocco Forte property in Italy, the country of origin of the eponymous founder and of his talented sister, Olga Polizzi, interior designer… Read more »

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky – Ovation Trophy Day 3

Guest Post by Hugo Slimbrouck, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ovation Global DMC Swiss Trophy Day 3 At 6am this morning, just when his fellow Irishmen had finally stopped singing in the bar, Padraic slipped silently away to attend a family event. He passed the blogging baton to me and this is my account of the… Read more »

Reaching New Heights: Ovation Trophy 2013 – Zurich – Crans Montana

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC No Brunello Florian never showed so there was no Brunello for breakfast. But that was the only disappointment in a day that delivered constant peaks of satisfaction as we crossed Switzerland from Zurich in the east to the Valais region in the south west finally ascending to… Read more »