Developing Tourism in Cavan
Tourism Jobs & Revenue*
Tourism delivered €10bn in expenditure between the overseas and domestic markets
*Based on 2023 CSO figures.
It is estimated that tourism industries accounted for 227,000 jobs nationwide
Tourism generates €2.9bn in exchequer revenue - the equivalent of €1,600 per household
Domestic Marketing
At Fáilte Ireland, our marketing aims to inspire domestic tourism by encouraging short breaks in Ireland, with a goal to boost year-round tourism revenue spread across the country. Our Keep Discovering domestic campaign is the cornerstone of our consumer marketing strategy, promoting regions to visitors from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland through various high reach channels including TV, video-on-demand, digital, media partnerships and an extensive PR and Influencer plan.
Additionally, our sponsorship of RTÉ Weather reaches 1.6 million people on average 8 times per week, providing a great platform to deliver timely, relevant and compelling messages to encourage viewers to Keep Discovering Ireland all year round.
Cavan Burren Park
Driving Climate Action for Tourism Businesses
Tackling climate change is one of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing tourism businesses today. Fáilte Ireland’s Climate Action Programme is delivered by Fáilte Ireland and a team of sustainability advisors who will mentor and guide businesses over a three-year period providing hands-on support and investment advice for tourism businesses aiming to become more sustainable and will help drive real change in businesses.
In line with government targets, the Programme will focus on reducing carbon emissions and saving money, along with broader areas like energy and waste management, water consumption, renewables, and biodiversity. More information on the Climate Action Programme can be found at https://supports.failteireland.ie/climate-action/
Accessible and Inclusive Tourism
Fáilte Ireland’s ambition is to support all tourism businesses improve their inclusive offerings and ensure that destinations, products, and services are accessible to all. Our 2025 plans focus on raising awareness of accessibility and inclusion, building capacity, and offering more choices for all.
We embrace the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ to make Ireland a leading accessible and inclusive destination. Together, we can create welcoming tourism experiences that enhance our communities as great places to visit and live.
For more information please visit: https://www.failteireland.ie/Development-menu-item/ Accessible-and-Inclusive-Tourism.aspx
Building excellent employment
Since Fáilte Ireland launched its Employer Excellence Programme in 2022, 30,000 employees and 300 businesses across the tourism sector have benefited from the programme. This three-year programme enhances retention, reward recognition, and communication. Additionally, the programme offers benefits such as top-tier people management training, access to an employee survey provider, expert HR advice, and the opportunity to be acknowledged as an Excellent Employer at our annual awards.
To support businesses to upskill new and existing employees, Fáilte Ireland launched learniFI, an online learning platform to drive professional development with over 250 tailored courses and dynamic live learning sessions across key business disciplines including HR, Finance and Climate Action. To help build the future pipeline of talent, the Fáilte Ireland Work Experience Programme connects Transition Year students with local tourism businesses, providing work experience and helping build a future talent pipeline. For more information, visit www.failteireland.ie/tourismcareers
Development in Cavan
Cavan is included in Fáilte Ireland’s Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027. This roadmap for the tourism industry and all stakeholders involved in tourism in the region will help navigate the current challenges and steer a course towards sustainable recovery and continued success. The plan sets out a strategic approach to unlocking the commercial potential of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. It will ensure focus on tourism development is sustainable and regenerative and that the benefits accrue to local communities and to nature. By capitalising on the uniqueness of each brand sets a clear path ahead for the development of new and enhanced visitor experiences, building greater capacity and capability into the industry, and provide a clear strategy for attracting visitors that will stay longer and spend more.
Destination and Experience Development Plans
Destination and Experience Development Plans (DEDPs) are 5-year sustainable tourism development plans for a destination, which bring public and private sector organisations together to prioritise tourism development projects and maximise their chance for success.
Upper Shannon, Shannon-Erne, and Border DEDP
Throughout 2023 and 2024 Fáilte Ireland worked closely with a committed group of regional stakeholders to develop a DEDP for the Upper Shannon, Shannon-Erne & Border area (Cavan, Leitrim and North Roscommon). Delivering positive benefits for nature and community, as well as for the visitor and the tourism industry are at the forefront of this DEDP, reflecting our commitment to developing tourism based on regenerative tourism principles. The DEDP is entering its final stages and will be launched on 21 January 2025.
The Beara Breifne Way
The Beara Breifne Way, a 700km trail through counties Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Offaly, Galway, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, and Cavan, is Ireland’s largest community-based project supported by community groups and volunteers. Since 2001, it has been supported by various stakeholders, including The Heritage Council, Fáilte Ireland, and local authorities. Recognised as a Signature Visitor Experience in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, it also intersects with the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East.
Fáilte Ireland is working with public and private stakeholders to establish a governance structure for the trail, covering local, county, and national levels, aimed at sustainable development and minimal environmental impact. A finalised governance plan is expected by 2025.
The section along the Cavan Way takes the walker past the Shannon Pot and on to the Cavan Burren, both key sites within the Cuilcagh Lakelands UNESCO Geopark and will link in with the Shannon Pot Discovery Centre currently being developed under the Fáilte Ireland Platforms for Growth Scheme.
Investment in Cavan
Shannon Pot Discovery Centre, Derrylahan, West Cavan
This project is being developed by Cavan County Council, which has received an award of €7.4m through Fáilte Ireland’s Platforms for Growth Investment Grants Scheme for Immersive Heritage and Cultural Attractions. Fáilte Ireland is committed to the sustainable development of unique visitor experiences and investing in standout attractions, particularly in regional areas. The Shannon Pot Discovery Centre will incorporate an immersive visitor exhibition and interpretive space, along with reception, café, retail shop, public amenities, and a new 500-metre walking trail.
€10m
Total project cost €7.4m
Fáilte Ireland investment
The project will also see development of new facilities at the nearby Cavan Burren Park. Located 5km apart from one another, both sites are part of the Cuilcagh Lakelands UNESCO Global Geopark and are linked via the Cavan Way. Together, The Shannon Pot and Cavan Burren Park, promise to create a unique and exciting outdoor experience that will help transform the tourism offering in Co. Cavan.
The project is currently in construction with expected opening date April 2026.
Festivals and Events
Festivals and events are a vital component of the visitor experience for local, domestic and international audience. Fáilte Ireland has identified tourism focused festivals and events as a key driver for tourism growth, particularly in the off-season. Festivals and participative events serve to increase both awareness of and dwell time in the destination, while also adding variety and diversity to the area. Investment in and business development support for festivals is helping to drive growth in the regions and draw both domestic and overseas visitors to different parts of the country in the off-peak season.
Fáilte Ireland provides funding for local and community festivals through its ‘Regional Festivals Programme’, which has been managed by Local Authorities since 2018. In addition to this Fáilte Ireland’s own Strategic Festivals Fund supports over 40 Festivals and Participative Events with a tourism focus.
Fáilte Ireland’s Champions Programme
Fáilte Ireland’s Champions Programme is designed to help tourism businesses enhance their team’s customer service skills and build local product knowledge. The programme is tailored to each of our regional experience brands (Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin) combining our successful Local Experts and Service Excellence programmes, with specialised training in accessible tourism. Frontline tourism professionals and anyone who engages with visitors, are invited to register for one of our free Champions Programme workshops. For more info on upcoming workshops see https://www.failteireland.ie/Product-development/champions-programme.aspx
Fáilte Ireland Initiatives for Cavan
Destination Towns - Cavan Town
Fáilte Ireland’s Destination Towns scheme is designed to boost the attractiveness and tourism appeal of towns nationwide, and is funded under the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 Strategy. Fáilte Ireland allocated €404,389 in funding to Cavan County Council to develop Cavan Town under this scheme.
Tourism Destination Development Plan
The towns of Ballyconnell and Belturbet on the ShannonErne Waterway are included in a Tourism Development Plan for the Destination Enhancement of the ShannonErne Waterway. Focusing on the main towns along the Waterway, the study also includes Ballinamore in County Leitrim.
This is a equal partnership project with Cavan and Leitrim County Councils, Waterways Ireland and Fáilte Ireland.
Shannon Masterplan
The Shannon Tourism Masterplan, led by Waterways Ireland with Fáilte Ireland and 10 Local Authorities, outlines a framework for sustainable tourism from 2020 to 2030. The River Shannon, its lakes and inland waterways are an integral part of the tourism offering in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. The Masterplan assesses the strengths and weaknesses of this key tourism asset in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands and brings forward proposals on how to grow a sustainable domestic and international tourism destination in the Shannon Corridor which respects the nature and diversity of the environment and its people.
One of the key actions of the plan was a Feasibility Study on the Future Development and Greening of the Cruise Hire Sector undertaken to support the sector to transition towards more sustainable practices and enhance the visitor experiences along the Shannon Navigation and Shannon-Erne Waterway up to 2033. Fáilte Ireland unveiled the roadmap for sustainable development of Cruise-Hire Sector in October 2024. Read the full Feasibility Study on the Future Development and Greening of the Cruise Hire Sector here https://www. failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/Ireland’s%20Hidden%20Heartlands/ feasibility-study-on-the-future-development.pdf
The Digital that Delivers programme is a pioneering initiative designed to transform the digital capabilities of attractions, activity providers, strategically funded festivals, and tourism-focused golf courses. This two-year development programme aims to equip up to 720 businesses with essential digital tools, skills and strategies to improve their online presence. Created in response to research highlighting low adoption of digital technology in these sectors, the programme provides resources to activate and optimise booking systems, develop accessible websites, improve customer engagement, and boost sales. It supports Fáilte Ireland’s mission to attract more visitors to emerging regions and destinations.
By the end of 2026, the programme will have awarded, up to €18.4 million in investment grant-aid to businesses throughout Ireland. Fáilte Ireland predicts this investment will generate €408 million in additional economic activity over a 10-year period, supporting up to 11,000 sustainable jobs across Ireland.
Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority and is funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media