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 Hotels like Villa Kennedy lift the destination experience beyond the ordinary and alter outdated destination perceptions and lazy prejudices.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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC If Carlsberg did travel … The Swiss flight from Paris to Zurich boarded on time, took off on time and landed slightly ahead of schedule. It was packed with efficient suits and brief cases, their boarding passes downloaded to a smart phone. Boarding was swift and easy and… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, MCI and Vice President, Ovation Global DMC The “embarrassment” of choice “So where are you staying? they asked. “The Roger”, I replied They didn’t even try to stifle their laughter. “The Roger?” they repeated to each other, in a tone somewhere between incredulity and hilarity. I had genuinely missed the… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President Ovation Global DMC and Vice President of Industry Relations at MCI Snow in Astrid Square When snow falls and sticks it alters perspectives. It rounds off sharp edges, fills voids and cancels colour. For those who live in moderate climates where snow is a rare occurrence, it evokes the magic… Read more »