Over 250,000 camping and caravanning enthusiasts around Great Britain will read all about holidays in Mayo and the west of Ireland later this year in the popular Camping & Caravanning magazine.

Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Michelle Mulherin TD, has welcomed the decision to give the green light to the proposal by Ballina Chamber to open a year-round tourist office in Ballina and the awarding of funding of €5,000 to help in its operation.

Westport’s hugely popular traditional music summer show ‘The Legend of Gráinne Mhaol’ at Hotel Westport received a timely boost this week with the news that a number of international tour operators are scheduling the show into their summer itineraries this summer. Promoters from The Legend of Gráinne Mhaol show were in Dublin at the Meitheal Irish Travel and TradeFair Show at the RDS and met several key tour operators from around the world to discuss the possibility of tour groups travelling to Westport in the coming months.

The official launch of the brand new Clew Bay Garden Trail by Mr Michael Ring TD will take place in Connacht Gold Garden Centre, Lodge Road Westport on Friday 25th May at 11am.

Visitors to Mulranny this Bank Holiday weekend are enjoying the spectacle of a school of dolphins playing in the Bellacragher Inlet.

A group of top German journalists flew into Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK) Saturday on the new Lufthansa flight from Düsseldorf to inform their 2 million readers, viewers and listeners of the tourism delights of Mayo. They were greeted upon arrival by Michael Ring TD, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, and by Joe Gilmore, Managing Director of IWAK.

The quality of bathing waters along Mayo's beautiful coastline meets EU mandatory standards and are rated among the best in Ireland, according to The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which has launched the report The Quality of Bathing Water in Ireland – An Overview for the Year 2011. All of the Mayo County Council designated bathing waters in the county have received 'Good' status as has Enniscrone in County Sligo.

Westport has been selected to partake in new Heritage Towns Initiative Pilot. Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring, has welcomed the announcement made by Mr. Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Heritage Projects in County Mayo receive support under The Heritage Council Grant Scheme this year include Built Heritage Photograpy Competition, Cong Village Design Statement, Mayo Heritage Week 2012, Knock Museum Public Accessibility Project, the Invertebrates of the Belmullet Peninsula and a Guide to the Great Western Greenway.  

 Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring has announced details of a new overseas joint tourism marketing campaign from a range of funding sources to boost tourism to the Western Region from Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Funding of €1 million has been allocated.