Taoiseach officially opens Discover Ireland Centre in Donegal

An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen T.D. today officially opened Fáilte Ireland’s new state-of-the-art Discover Ireland Centre in Donegal Town. This new type of tourist information centre represents a significant step forward in the development of regional tourism throughout the country and incorporates all the advantages available from state of the art technology. Today’s opening follows the recent launch by the taoiseach of Fáilte Ireland’s autumn initiative which is designed to promote value for money and to encourage people to take an autumn break.  
 
Speaking at the launch the Taoiseach emphasised that:
 
“I am delighted to be here today to officially open this state of the art Discover Ireland Centre in Donegal Town. Nowadays, throughout the world, people are masters of their own journey. They are more involved in planning their holidays and travel arrangements – particularly through the internet - and it is vital that Ireland is among those destinations at the leading edge of this technology in terms of information and services available to the potential visitor.”
 
“Ireland Inc likes to market itself as an innovative and modern location for potential overseas investors and businesses. It is very comforting that those who will come here for leisure purposes will also get the same impression when they step into a cutting edge centre such as this .”
 
The new Discover Ireland Centre in in Donegal is among five new centres whose design and concept are leading former Tourism Information offices into the 21st century.
 
The original design of 40 years ago has been replaced with an open space in which the visitor is encouraged to browse and avail of a wide range of self-service options including access to tourist information through the Internet. Counters no longer separate visitors from staff and conversations now take place in a lounge style environment.
 
Great care has been taken to create a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere throughout the centre with the interior of the building designed to draw the eye of the visitor to the superb views of Donegal bay, while providing the floor space needed to promote the many attractions of the North West.
 
The event was also attended by An Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan T.D. who spoke about the work in place to encourage the promotion of the North West region:
 
“Tourism is vitally important to the national economy and crucial for regions such as the North West. The Government has taken several initiatives to stimulate local tourism growth. I know that Fáilte Ireland has had meetings with trade representatives here in the county this week with the aims of drawing up marketing plans for 2010, which in addition to the domestic market, will target both Northern Ireland and the UK markets in the short term.”
 
She added:
 
“Tourism is one of those sectors of the economy where there seems to be a healthy and productive partnership between the public and private sectors. For example, it is extremely encouraging to see so many tourism businesses in the North West actively involved in Fáilte Ireland’s current Discover Ireland autumn campaign. There has never been better value to be had in Donegal and I hope that all involved receive a boost from this promotion.”
 
Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland, believes that Ireland’s tourism sector needs to constantly evolve to remain competitive. He pointed to developments such as the Donegal centre as essential to ensure we meet the needs of today’s visitors:
 
“There is no room for complacency in tourism. Visitors today have become much more demanding and discerning and for Ireland to meet their ever-changing needs, tourism information needs to be not only readily available but easily accessible.”
 
“Our new Discover Ireland Centres are driven by advanced technology and represent the best in cutting edge technology. All are linked to the National Tourism Database which is updated in real time throughout each day. This provides instant accurate information on a wide spectrum of tourism products and events and allows visitors to easily and speedily book accommodation, travel and tickets.”
 
Mr Quinn also pointed out that tourism information is also available on the www.discoverireland.ie website and can also now be accessed through mobile phones.
 
“Wherever the technology exists, we will exploit it to further the growth of the tourism sector” he concluded.
 

ENDS

For further information please contact:
 
Louise Tolerton
Press Officer - 086 6086578/01 8847135
 

Note for editor

Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy.
 
Tourism was worth just over €430m to the economy of the North West in 2008 with over 1.5m visitors coming to the region during that period.
 
Tourism is very important to the economy of Co Donegal. At present there are 59 hotels, 135 Self Catering Properties and 154 B&Bs in the county.  This, together with the numerous fantastic visitor attractions, shows the vitality and attractiveness of Donegal as a premier tourism destination.
 
A number of tourism partnerships have been initiated by Fáilte Ireland over the last number of years.  The wide participation by the private sector in these partnerships is particularly encouraging. Donegal County Council, Letterkenny and Bundoran Urban Councils have cooperated in these initiatives and indeed on a national basis Donegal has been to the forefront in co-operative   initiatives between the public and private sector.
 
There are many magnificent attractions throughout the county but in particular the next phase of the Sliabh Liag Project will be significant as it will have the capacity to be the main iconic attraction for the county and has the capacity to seriously increase the number of visitors to the region.
 
Donegal tourism has also been to the forefront in Cross Border initiatives and has supported a number of recent projects such as Sail West involving marinas on the coast both North and South, the Sliabh Liag/Giants Causeway joint application and the Destination North West Marketing initiative involving counties Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Sligo, Fermanagh and Leitrim.
 
Over 140 businesses here in the North West have participated in the Fáilte Ireland Discover Ireland campaign which is designed to promote value for money and to take a holiday break here in the North West.

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