Cover Story
“Fáilte Ireland’s focus is on supporting resilience and survival in the short term and the recovery of the sector in the long-term”
on areas such as strategy and leadership, finance and cost efficiency, food and beverage innovation and service excellence to drive performance and help the industry navigate the challenges they are facing,” says Paul. “I’d encourage businesses to continue visiting our online Covid-19 Business Support Hub on www.failteireland.ie for the latest supports.” As the vaccine rollout gets underway, Fáilte Ireland is hopeful that some kind of domestic tourism activity can start again this summer. “Domestic tourism will be the first to return and we plan to invest significantly in marketing to drive domestic tourism when the country re-opens. Our research tells us that the ‘Keep Discovering’ campaign we launched prior to the Covid-19 pandemic resonates even more strongly with people now and we will be rolling the campaign out at both a national and county level.” To prepare for the return of tourism, Fáilte Ireland has developed a new digital transformation programme. “Online planning and booking have become even more important. We will be working with the industry to build improved websites and online booking capability.” Fáilte Ireland will also be investing in urban areas. “We are hoping to launch two new pilot funding schemes in collaboration with our local authority partners to enhance urban areas and make them more appealing to visitors,” says Paul, “the Outdoor Dining Grant Scheme which will aim to improve the quality of outdoor dining spaces and offer reassurance around safety and comfort and the Urban Animation Grant Scheme which we hope will animate cities and towns with innovative lighting and art installations. We’re also continuing to implement projects to boost the attractiveness and tourism appeal of 31 towns nationwide through our Destination Towns Scheme which launched in 2019 and is progressing well.”
Over five thousand members of the tourism industry watched Fáilte Ireland’s virtual event ‘Survive to Thrive’
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CATERING REVIEW | ISSUE 1 2021
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