Target experience-loving younger visitors, tourism firms are told

A MAJOR five-year plan to promote West Cork – and Kenmare – as a modern tourism destination, focusing on visitor ‘experiences’, was launched by Fáilte Ireland recently.

The plan, unveiled to local tourism businesses at a meeting in the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, aims to position the region as a premier national and international artisan food and drink destination.

As reported in this paper last month, the West Cork and Kenmare Destination and Experience Development Plan (DEDP) hopes to create a sustainable tourism destination by extending the tourism season in the region and capitalising on the area’s strengths, like its stunning landscapes, water activities and food and drinks offerings.

The presentation in Rosscarbery featured addresses from the main managers of the Wild Atlantic Way tourism route, and a special presentation by travel journalist Pól Ó Conghaile, who showed the audience examples of other global destinations and how they are embracing the current travel appetite for ‘experiences’. Some cities had coffee trail maps, some hotels plugged local businesses on their key cards, while one major museum offered an immersive experience to draw in visitors.

Pól also made the point that while West Cork is a known brand in Ireland, it cannot rest on its laurels as it is competing with every other attractive region on the planet, so local businesses cannot become complacent.

‘If you stop moving, you go backwards,’ he warned.

While he recalled his own childhood experiences on holiday in the region, he wondered what facilities were in place to attract the vital twenty and thirty-something visitors.

This is the age group that, as Fáilte Ireland also noted, craves the ‘experiential’ holiday, days out that are ‘Instagrammable’ and provide memories worth sharing on social media. Another buzzword at the event was ‘co-opetition’ – the value of co-operating with a competitor to achieve a common goal.

Local accommodation providers should be to the forefront of promoting local activities, and vice versa, he said. But he also reminded the audience that value for money is key in a society suffering from an acute cost-of-living crisis.

Key stakeholders in the area who contributed to the plan include Cork County Council, Kerry County Council, Pure Cork, local development companies and local tourism marketing groups, tourism operators and local community groups.

Speakers Des O’Dowd of Inchydoney Lodge & Spa and Neil Lucey of the Gougane Barra Hotel both shared their enthusiasm and thanks for having been invited to contribute, on behalf of West Cork businesses, as co-chairs of the development plan.

The plan builds on a number of existing destination development projects that will bring local experiences to life including improved facilities for walking, hiking and water activities, the implementation of the Beara Breifne Way masterplan, and the positioning of West Cork and Kenmare as premier national and international artisan food and drink destinations.

There are also plans to develop an integrated transport system and all-weather experiences to help extend the length of the tourism season.

The full plan can be read at failteireland.ie.