Tourism plans for the Shannon region discussed
30/01/2008
More investment to support long-term growth
Fáilte Ireland cautiously optimistic about 2008 season
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, and Tourism Ireland, the body responsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas, met with the tourism industry interests in the Shannon region today to outline their plans for developing and promoting tourism in the region over the 2008 season.
Attending the meeting, Mr Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland said the fundamentals underlying tourism in the region remained relatively healthy although more investment would be necessary for sustained growth over the longer-term and that Fáilte Ireland would be making additional investment funding available. Turning to the coming season, Mr Quinn said that in light of international economic challenges conditions in 2008 could be more difficult than those of recent years. “We cannot ignore the potential impact of stock market volatility and exchange rate movements on our business but it is much too early to speculate on any impact at this stage. We can only strive to offer the very best value we can and make every effort to minimise costs without compromising on quality. We must also intensify our collective marketing efforts.” He welcomed the additional €3 million in regional funding announced by Minister Séamus Brennan and he said that he looked forward to the speedy implementation of an action plan to be agreed shortly between Fáilte Ireland, Shannon Development and Tourism Ireland.
Commenting on Fáilte Ireland plans for the coming season, he said that the priorities were to almost double investment in new and existing tourist attractions and related infrastructure and to provide more practical business supports to tourism enterprises. This should include helping the industry to develop more overseas business and ensure that strong web presence is in place. However, while the tourism authority is cautious about 2008, recent research from Fáilte Ireland has indicated that the tourism industry is very optimistic about its prospects for the year ahead with nine in 10 accommodation providers believing that their overseas business this year will be at least as good as or even better than in 2007. Mr Quinn also indicated that Fáilte Ireland is to launch its biggest ever ‘Discover Ireland’ campaign, which aims to encourage Irish people to take a break at home.
Referring to the recent announcement by Ministers Séamus Brennan and Noel Dempsey, regarding the Shannon Airport Catchment Plan, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Paul O’Toole said that an additional €3 million had been provided to promote tourism to the West of Ireland in the post-Open Skies era. “Tourism Ireland, together with Shannon Development and the Fáilte Ireland regions, has formed a working group to agree a marketing plan for the Catchment Area; this plan will be implemented as soon as possible. It will aim to highlight the many attractions of the Shannon Airport Catchment Area in our core markets, to show how easy it is to get there from overseas and to showcase the good holiday value available from the tourism industry in the area”.
“We acknowledge particular challenges posed by this transition period to Open Skies, in the context of difficult trading conditions in the United States and other key markets. Nevertheless, the West of Ireland has a very attractive tourism product with many appeals which we will promote vigorously throughout 2008 and beyond,” said O’Toole.
Speaking about 2007 tourism results for the Shannon Region, John King, Shannon Development’s Heritage and Tourism Director said, “Indications are that 2007 was a good year in terms of tourism business for the region. We saw growth in overall visitor numbers, with exceptional growth of over 20% in overseas revenues, although final figures won’t be available until April next. Shannon Development has already had meetings with national tourism agencies and relevant western regions tourism interests in preparing an action plan for the recently announced €3 million Open Skies tourism marketing fund, and we will be getting this into the market-place in a matter of weeks.”
Shannon Region
Preliminary figures for overseas visitors in 2007 suggest that the Shannon Region experienced a slight decline in overseas visitor numbers with an approximate three per cent decrease on 2006. Mr Quinn acknowledged the region’s excellent performance in the domestic tourism market where total domestic visitors increase by 12 per cent on the previous year. Shaun Quinn said, “The spatial development of tourism across all regions continues to be a key priority for Fáilte Ireland. We are continuing to invest significantly in upgrading and expanding the range of tourist attractions and activities across regions to broaden visitor appeal. This is necessary in order to ensure that the long-term development of tourism in Ireland is secure.
During 2007, Fáilte Ireland launched its Tourism Product Development Strategy, whereby the agency will invest €137m in capital investment projects. Since its launch, Fáilte Ireland has invested nearly €3.5m in tourism infrastructure and facilities in the Shannon region including the upgrade and creation of a riverside strategy in Limerick City and a heritage trail in Tipperary. As part of the new cycling strategy a number of hub towns have been created with the support of local authorities and the assistance of NDP Infrastructure Grants. Work is currently underway in developing day and half day signed looped routes in a number of centres around the country.
In addition, over 50 new walks were constructed and marked and have been uploaded on the Fáilte Ireland website with downloadable maps. These walks include Keeper Hill and Ballyhoura in Limerick and Freakle, Carran and Ruan in Clare which have been developed with the assistance of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The promotion of festivals throughout the country continues to be a focus for the tourism authority and during 2007 over €350,000 was allocated to more than 30 festivals throughout the Shannon region. This included the Clonmel Junction festival, Limerick Riverfest, International Flying Boat festival and the Summer Music on the Shannon festival. It also included a number of smaller festivals such as the Feile Brian Boru, Freakle International Traditional Music Festival and the Lough Gur Summer Solstice.
The recruitment and training of people to work in tourism remains a key issue for the industry across all regions. In 2008, Fáilte Ireland’s permanent Training Centre in Roxboro Road, Limerick will be attended by 175 trainees developing skills in the core culinary, bar and restaurant areas. The centre will also co-ordinate twenty customer care programmes through the region. Fáilte Ireland will also provide financial support for 147 students in the Limerick Institute of Technology who are pursuing accredited skills courses in tourism and hospitality. Continuing on from its success in 2007, Fáilte Ireland will run three Tourism Learning Networks in the Shannon region. The networks will also be expanded to facilitate the tourism enterprises that participated in 2007 and will offer further support to these businesses going forward into 2008.
Outlining Tourism Ireland’s priority action areas for 2008, Paul O’Toole said that improving the distribution of tourism to more rural areas continues to be a priority for the organisation. “The new co-operative regional marketing campaigns launched last year worked well in overseas markets and delivered results. We have refreshed and enhanced these campaigns for the regions this year. In Great Britain, for example, the successful region-to-region approach capitalising on the excellent access links between specific areas of Britain and the regions of Ireland will continue. A new car touring campaign is planned to attract those visitors who either bring their own car to Ireland or who come here and hire one. Research shows that visitors who travel by car stay longer and tour the countryside more extensively,” said Paul O’Toole.
Commenting on the major review of the Ireland brand undertaken by Tourism Ireland last year, Paul O’Toole said that the review confirmed that Ireland remains a strongly motivating and attractive proposition for holidaymakers in key markets. “However, it also confirmed that, in this highly competitive global marketplace, the Ireland brand will need to differentiate itself even more strongly if we are to deliver the required growth in overseas revenue and visitor numbers. We will be putting more emphasis on the diversity of holiday experiences available in the Shannon Region and other regions in our marketing campaigns. Tourism Ireland intends to bring a new focus to the expression of the brand, with an emphasis on “the island of unique Character and Characters”.
For 2008, Tourism Ireland has extended the number of overseas marketing opportunities available to the industry in Ireland and has developed a range of new marketing packages which will enable industry, big or small, to promote their product or service directly to the overseas consumer. “In an increasingly competitive climate, with new and emerging destinations fighting for share, consumers are spoilt for choice. If we want to convert ‘lookers’ into ‘bookers’ we need to tempt them with attractive and compelling offers,” said Paul O’Toole.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Fáilte Ireland
Mary Cosgrave 087 226 0411
Louise Tolerton 086 608 6578
Murray Consultants
James Dunny 086 388 3903
Shannon Development
Nandi O’ Sullivan 086-2371510
Tourism Ireland
Sinead Grace 087 685 9027
Weber Shandwick FCC
Louise Cassidy 086 383 5727
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