A busy Killarney is Tralee’s gain

There is an interesting situation after developing in Killarney and Tralee ahead of Saturday’s All Ireland football championship clash between Kerry and Mayo.

| By Sean Moriarty

Over 30,000 people are expected at Fitzgerald Stadium for the game. Mayo fans are always known to travel to support their team and it seems this weekend is no different.

This will be one of the biggest GAA weekends ever seen in Killarney.

Its on par, if not bigger, than the traditional July Munster final clashes between Kerry and Cork and its sure to be a memo- rable occasion no matter the result. However, there is one big difference. Cork fans tended to travel up on the day of match and leave shortly afterwards.

Kerry fans are guilty of the same when the same tie is played in Cork.

But the expected influx of Mayo fans has caused a different sort of problem.

There is very little accommodation available in Killarney and its seems Mayo fans are set to take over Tralee for the weekend.

Accommodation websites like booking. com reveal limited rooms in both towns. To be fair to accommodation providers, the prices of these available rooms are not too expensive.

There is nothing like a big match occasion in Killarney but does it risk being diluted when a lot fans will stay 30kms away. There are many reasons this happened, Killarney is on the verge of peak tourism season and already we are seeing coach loads of international tourists make regular appearances in the town. There is a proportion of accommodation given over the International Protection Seekers in both towns.

The new-look GAA format and calen- dar means travelling fans habits have changed too.

But Tralee never had a decent tourism season in May – its season usually comes to life once school is out for the summer. This is not the first time this year something like this happened. Several competitors in the recent Rally of the Lakes stated in both Tralee and Ballyvourney.

It is great that the two main towns in the county are getting a kick-back from the biggest sporting occasions in Killarney this summer but should local tourism operators be asking how did an opportunity like this slip through their fingers?

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