Francis Brennan, proprietor of Park Hotel Kenmare, in Co Kerry on conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
What's your earliest holiday memory?We used to go to Courtown, in Co Wexford, to stay in a caravan with our aunt. We would be on the beach, free and open, which we loved as kids.
What was your worst holiday?I went to an international tourism conference which was held in Vanuatu – aka the New Hebrides islands – northwest of Australia. It was just diabolical, as the hotel was hot and not nice. It was 100 per cent humid, and we couldn't swim in the sea because of snakes. It just got worse and worse. We were there for 10 days, but there was no way out, so we just had to put up with it.
What was your best holiday?Another tourism conference, but this time in Hawaii. The weather was great, the hotel was beautiful and the beach was endless.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?Vatulele is an island resort in Fiji with magnificent cottages along a crescent beach. If you wanted to go away to sun, sea and sand, that would be the dream.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?Tom Crean, the polar explorer, who went with Shackleton to the South Pole and would surely have stories to be envied. His life is recounted in the fantastic stage show by Aidan Dooley. Tom's grand-daughter Aileen D'Arcy worked with us at the hotel.
What's your favourite place in Ireland?I love Ballinskelligs, in Kerry; it's between Waterville and Cahirciveen. It's magnificent on a sunny day. The remoteness of it all means you lose civilisation as soon as you turn off the Ring of Kerry on to it. There is view out to the Skellig islands from the beach where you feel like you can nearly touch them.
Your recommended holiday reading?When you go on holidays you want rubbish. The last time I was away I read The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown. It's a load of codswallop, but it makes good reading on the plane, because you can go in and out of it. At the moment I'm reading The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. It is the most beautifully written book I have read. I don't want to finish it, because he writes so beautifully.
Where will you go to next?I'm off to America later this month with Tourism Ireland. I'll go to Boston, New York and Chicago. We'll do media, consumer and retail travel-agent visits. It's a good way to catch clients at our level. At the end of the trip I'll go to the Philadelphia International Flower Show, which is bigger than the Chelsea Flower Show.