Local authorities have increased their tourism investment and resources to sustain and enhance Ireland’s tourism sector, particularly in light of Brexit, a conference in Cork heard on Thursday last.
The conference ‘Tourism is Everyone’s Business’ organised by the County and City Management Association (CCMA) in association with Fáilte Ireland brings together local authority staff and other industry stakeholders to consider how we can strengthen Ireland’s tourism offering throughout the country and appeal to a diversity of markets, domestic and international.
A new report released at the conference shows Ireland’s City and County Councils have plans to develop 256 new tourism projects, with €156 million committed to these projects by councils including for new walking trails, discovery centres, cultural plazas, harbours, and sports facilities. An additional €205 million will be leveraged by local authorities from external agencies.
Local authorities directly invested €99.4million to develop tourist attractions in the five years 2014-2018. On top of that, councils leveraged a further €88.4 million from external agencies towards these developments, meaning City and County Councils harnessed a total capital investment in tourism attractions of €185.8 million.
This increased investment will play a key part in building resilience in the context of Brexit, according to Ann Doherty, Chair of the CCMA Economic and Enterprise Committee: “Brexit is a challenge the local authority sector is actively addressing, committing increased resources and working even harder to expand our markets and generate new offerings. With 35% of Ireland’s overseas tourists coming from the UK, and in a competitive international market, it has never been more important to actively develop new offerings to provide diverse and niche tourism products throughout the country to appeal to both domestic and foreign tourists.
“We are continually looking for new ways to reach out to potential visitors and in the last year over €8 million was invested in tourism promotion with a further €6m provided to fund 292 new innovative tourism projects including ambassador programmes; international collaborations, and new food and cultural festivals,” Ann Doherty said.
The new report shows:
Concluding, Ann Doherty emphasised the importance of tourism to Ireland’s regional and local economies, saying: “Making great places to live, work and visit is at the heart of what local authorities do. Tourism supports almost a quarter of a million jobs across the country and brings more than €5bn into the country each year from overseas visitors.
“Our investment in tourism development is an investment in economic development, and an important aspect of that is the contribution tourism makes to balanced economic development, offering employment opportunities across the country, including in remote areas that might otherwise find it difficult to maintain industry or employment.”
Welcoming the investment today, CEO of Fáilte Ireland, Paul Kelly said:
“Tourism is a major economic driver and contributes hugely to communities across the country both socially and as a key source of employment. At Fáilte Ireland we are focussed on developing tourism to ensure every region can benefit from the revenue and job creation it brings. Local authorities are a key partner for us and the work they do to develop local area makes tourism a viable industry in so many towns and communities across Ireland. Alongside Fáilte Ireland’s ongoing investment in visitor experiences and product across the country, the additional funding for tourism announced by councils today will make a significant contribution to how Ireland attracts tourists from around the world.”