Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 September 2022
5. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans for promoting regional tourism in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47580/22]
View answer36. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans for the development of the Ireland’'s Hidden Heartlands tourism brand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47122/22]
View answer40. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the up-to-date position on the Wild Atlantic Walkway and the Carlingford to Cobh Irish Sea Way, as included in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47508/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 36 and 40 together.
Regional development and the promotion of areas all over the country as great places to visit are at the heart of Fáilte Ireland’s remit. Fáilte Ireland created the four regional brands of the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Dublin and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as a way to bring to life the richness and diversity of experiences available to visitors across the country.
To guide medium to longer term development, I understand that Fáilte Ireland aims to deliver four new Regional Tourism Strategies in 2022 which will set out a 10-year vision and 5-year action plan for each region.
At the more local level, these four Regional Tourism Strategies will be activated through a series of coordinated local Destination and Experience Development Plans (DEDPs), developed by Fáilte Ireland in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders.
The domestic visitor is critical to tourism business, especially regional businesses, as domestic consumers will travel all year round and to a much wider breadth of destinations than the typical overseas visitor.
Fáilte Ireland’s focus on promoting the regions has included significant investment into brand building through individual ‘Keep Discovering’ campaigns for the each of the four regional experience brands, as well as media publicity, digital channels, and online sales platforms. All four regional brands are being promoted across a mix of TV, press, radio, digital and social and there is a new press campaign also showcasing the regions.
In addition, through its ‘Keep Discovering’ campaign, Fáilte Ireland promotes individual destinations from Donegal to Wexford and Cork to Louth. Many of these destinations have been featured on their new Weather broadcast sponsorship, as well as in the national press.
Looking forward to 2023, Fáilte Ireland will continue to focus on building the regional brand. It will encourage domestic travellers to visit destinations across the country and, through online booking and sales and marketing supports, work with local industry to help them convert this interest into increased sales for their business.
I understand that Fáilte Ireland's priorities for 2023 in terms of domestic marketing (and supporting the international marketing effort) include:
- RTÉ Weather Sponsorship
- Year-round marketing campaign ‘Keep Discovering’
- Media partnerships to showcase Ireland and drive domestic demand to take short breaks across Irish media
- Further investment in marketing websites including the launch of new VisitDublin.com and ongoing optimisation of DiscoverIreland.ie website to drive domestic bookings
- Strong domestic sales promotion campaigns across multiple distribution partners’ platforms, supporting regions and key festivals and events
- Hosting International Media to showcase all that Ireland has to offer.
With regard to the development of specific other tourism product offerings, such as the proposed Irish Sea Way or Wild Atlantic Walkway, these are operational matters for Fáilte Ireland in line with its tourism development functions. My Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, as well as certain other bodies.
However, I understand that Fáilte Ireland has commenced work on the Irish Sea Way and the Wild Atlantic Way Coast Path projects. After an initial review by Fáilte Ireland of trail development along the East Coast and in particular the geography from Carlingford to Cobh, the optimal proposition for the Irish Seaway initiative is to link current and planned Greenway and Cycle Trails to deliver a contiguous cycle route from Carlingford to Cobh. The progression of this work, which will be developed in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, will be a key part of Fáilte Ireland’s operational plans for 2023.
The development of the Wild Atlantic Way Coast Path remains a priority for Fáilte Ireland. In 2018, Fáilte Ireland conducted research into a variety of visitor attraction concepts and found that the highest performing experience was the Wild Atlantic Way coastal path. The procurement process to tender for consultants for the Wild Atlantic Way Coast Path to develop a framework for delivery is due to commence in October 2022. The objective of this process is to have consultants on board by end of this year, with a 12 to 18 month timeframe for the delivery of such a framework.
In relation to the specific regional brand, Ireland's Hidden Heartland, since the launch of the brand in 2018 Fáilte Ireland has been working in association with the Local Authorities, other State agencies, such as Tourism Ireland, and the wider tourism industry to raise awareness of the new Hidden Heartlands brand and to grow the visitor economy therein. Tourism Ireland promotes the Hidden Heartlands directly to overseas visitors, and the region now features prominently on the Ireland.com website.
Fáilte Ireland has been building partnerships with the local authorities, Waterways Ireland, Coillte, Bord na Mona and the Office of Public Works, in order to optimise the tourism potential of their natural and heritage assets in a sustainable manner. Recent highlights include the launch of the Shannon Tourism Masterplan, which has already seen €2.3 million invested by Fáilte Ireland in new projects last year alone, and €3.9 million invested in the revamped National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park.
At Fáilte Ireland’s flagship tradeshow, Meitheal, in 2022, the number of tourism businesses who signed up from Ireland’s Hidden Heartland’s increased from 8 to almost 40 during the period from 2018 – 2022. This means that more and more tour operators are aware of the region and are including it on their tours.
Fáilte Ireland has established a Steering Group for the region comprising eleven relevant Local Authorities together with State Agencies and industry members, which advises on the future strategic direction for tourism in the region.
Fáilte Ireland also established three Destination Recovery Task Forces throughout the region in response to the crisis in tourism caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. These Task Forces ensured businesses in the region could be sustained and primed for continued growth as tourism recovers.
Later this year, Fáilte Ireland will publish a Regional Tourism Strategy for Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands 2023-2027. While this will be a five-year strategy, it will set out an exciting 10-year vision for the sustainable development of tourism in the region. The strategy will focus on regenerative tourism and sustainability, ensuring that tourism works to create sustainable jobs in local communities and protects the environment.
Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with all its partners, is working to transform what is a non-traditional tourism region into a destination with a unique identity and distinctive reasons to visit.
