Cruise ship holiday packages are back with major demand amongst local holiday goers this summer. That's according to local travel agent, Mark Clifford of O'Hanrahan travel based in Monaghan.
Speaking on this morning's Joe Finnegan show, Mr Clifford said he has noticed a "huge increase" in the amount of cruise ship bookings from holiday goers across the region.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the local travel agent revealed that the cruising market was one of the biggest sellers, however it was feared that the industry would "die a death" and never be the same again.
Despite concerns, Mr Clifford revealed that this could not be further from the truth, adding that cruising destinations across the Mediterranean and Caribbean has been the "biggest seller" from the turn of the year.
"There's a lot of advantages to a cruise," he explained. "It's all about value for money and the cruise product is certainly value for money. The beauty about going on a cruise is the destinations you go to, for example on a one week cruise in the Mediterranean you could hit five or six countries in that week, so it's a fantastic way of getting a snippet of each destination. We have found in recent years that the old package holiday that started selling in the 60s and 70s from Ireland where people went and lay on the beach for a week is no more. Younger people now want activity, they want to see things, they want to do things and no longer want to lay on the beach for a week."
