New tourism group aiming to attact more overseas visitors
Date Published: {J}
By Darragh McDonagh
Aer Arann Chairman Padraig Ó Céidigh is to lead a new tourism development forum which was established last week to devise a range of measures to boost the number of overseas visitors to the west of Ireland.
The inaugural meeting of Fáilte West last week brought together 13 representatives from the tourism sector, business community and local government who will be tasked with overseeing a three-year development agenda for tourism in the region.
The forum, which replaces the Western Regional Tourism Development Board, will convene up to five times a year and play an integral role in shaping regional tourism policy and competing for capital funding of up to €170m for projects in the west over the next six years.
Chaired by Aer Arann chief Padraig Ó Céidigh, the forum also includes Marian Coy, president of GMIT; City Councillor Ollie Crowe; County Manager Martina Moloney; Managing Director of Galway Arts Festival John Crumlish and a number of local businesspeople.
The objectives of the forum will include the identification of capital projects to improve tourism infrastructure, which will be allocated funding based on the merit of the proposals and their potential to attract overseas visitors.
Fiona Monaghan, head of operations for Fáilte Ireland in the West, said that the new tourism forum would focus on sustaining tourism business and employment in the region over the next three years.“The inaugural meeting was very successful and it is the hope and purpose of Fáilte West to provide a renewed focus on how we can develop tourism in the region,” she said.
“There is capital funding there of up to €30m each year for the next few years, and while a few million may be shaved off in the next budget, we are assured that it will not be anything too dramatic.“The money will be allocated on the strength of our ideas and their potential to attract international visitors and the forum will work to ensure that we get the lion’s share of the funding.”
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.