Slow Tourism Wins the Race

Paddy Mathews, Head of Operations Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Fáilte Ireland, tells InBUSINESS about how engagement with local business has been crucial to the success of the brand.

“Coming after a record year in 2018, 2019 has been a little more challenging for Irish tourism with challenges that are coming with Brexit and resulting uncertainty,” admits Paddy Mathews, Head of Operations Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. “Fáilte Ireland has worked tirelessly with businesses to get them prepared for Brexit and the message continues to be ‘prepare and diversify.’ While there may be a level of uncertainty within the industry at the moment, Fáilte Ireland is working hard to develop and support the tourism sector,” he states.

As a brand, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands speaks to the burgeoning trends of ‘slow tourism’, and green tourism. Mr Mathews describes the ethos of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as being, “about finding your own rhythm in nature and getting off the beaten track. Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is all about slow tourism and discovering Ireland’s unknown gems and embracing nature.”

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

On Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands being recognised with the award for Best Tourism Project, he is keen to give credit to everyone who contributed, stating, “This recognition is really a reflection of all the hard work that has been done to establish Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as a regional experience and tourist destination.

It’s important to say that while we at Fáilte Ireland are extremely pleased to accept the award, we would not be in a position to do so without the hard work of the many local businesses and stakeholders.”

He points out that working with local authorities and engaging with local businesses to provide training opportunities and commercial development has been a crucial factor in the success of the initiative. One example is the Website Improvement Programme launched in June, which is designed to improve the websites and digital skills of visitor attractions and activity providers in the region—44 businesses are currently taking part in the programme.

FÁILTE IRELAND HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY WITH BUSINESSES TO GET THEM PREPARED FOR BREXIT AND THE MESSAGE CONTINUES TO BE ‘PREPARE AND DIVERSIFY.’ WHILE THERE MAY BE A LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY WITHIN THE INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT, FÁILTE IRELAND IS WORKING HARD TO DEVELOP AND SUPPORT THE TOURISM SECTOR.

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

“As we are still in the development stage, we continue to build up our number of visitor attractions across the region,” he says. “From the outset we have engaged with the relevant stakeholders to develop an inventory of all the attractions in the region. This year we announced some major investments, including a €3.9m investment in the National Famine Museum in Strokestown Park and a €640,000 investment in Knights & Conquests at Granard, Co. Longford.”

Looking towards the year ahead, the publication and implementation of the Shannon Tourism Masterplan (being led by Waterways Ireland) and the Beara Breifne Way Activation Plan, the establishment of a number of commerciallyfocussed, cross-county tourism networks across the entire region, and a new high-profi le festival for Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, are just some of the key areas Fáilte Ireland will be looking at.