Walking holidays position Ireland as the ultimate ‘Green Gym’

New RTÉ show to showcase walking trails in Ireland

The latest figures show that walking in Ireland is one of the top activities enjoyed by holidaymakers with over 1.6m taking part during 2009. Research by Fáilte Ireland also shows that walking is extremely popular with both domestic holidaymakers (over 860,000 people) and overseas visitors (up to 800,000) enjoying the wide range of walking facilities around the country during the same period.

As part of its ongoing promotion of Ireland’s walking opportunities, the national tourism authority, with other partners including Coillte and the National Trails Office, is supporting a new five part series for RTÉ called ‘Tracks and Trails’. Each programme in the series, which begins tonight (16th July) at 7.30 pm on RTÉ One, will feature spectacular walks and cycle tracks in stunning locations across Ireland and will be presented by a different celebrity guest each week.
 
Ethna Murphy, Head of Leisure Tourism at Fáilte Ireland, believes the series will provide a valuable opportunity to showcase what is on offer, not only for outdoor enthusiasts but all holidaymakers, and hopes it will persuade the watching audience to take a break in Ireland this year. 

“Walking is becoming an increasing popular activity with holidaymakers and Ireland is well placed to position itself as the ultimate ‘green gym’. With the development and enhancement of walking routes across the country, there has never been a better time to experience walking in Ireland. We hope that Tracks and Trails, spotlighting the fabulous walking routes available throughout Ireland, will persuade the watching Irish public to take a break at home this year.” 

While walking is popular, Fáilte Ireland believes that it has great potential to grow tourism numbers. In terms of overseas numbers, the USA, Germany, UK and the Netherlands show the greatest potential for attracting walking visitors. Research shows that there are potentially more than 1 million UK residents who would partake in walking in Ireland in the next three years. This figure is closely followed by 900,000 German visitors, 800,000 visitors from the USA and 700,000 visitors from the Netherlands.  

Ms Murphy firmly believes that walking in Ireland is very much on the up -  

“Walking is seen by holidaymakers as a premier product, with one in every four mentioning it as an activity they have taken part in during their holiday. This figure rises to one in every three among Mainland Europeans who display high satisfaction ratings with the quality and price of this activity.”

“We, in Fáilte Ireland, are committed to developing the walking offerings that are being made available to both overseas and domestic visitors and are currently engaged in a number of initiatives, and support programmes, with local communities helping them to welcome walkers with open arms and to understand the economic value of walking activities can offer their local economy.”

Over the past four years, 200 National Looped walks have been developed throughout the country - with support from Fáilte Ireland, the (then) Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht affairs and Coillte as well as local groups and landowners. 

Many of these looped walks are developed and maintained to a very high standard by local communities. The walks have been developed under a number of themes including Nature, Island, Mountain and Coastal and the local communities, who have taken great pride in developing them, are reaping the benefits with people coming to the areas, doing the walks and spending money locally.
 

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