Tourism delivered €10bn in expenditure between 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
Winter In Dublin
Winter in Dublin is a collaborative event between Fáilte Ireland and Dublin stakeholders including local authorities, public bodies, representative organisations, and industry partners that positions Dublin as a must-visit city in the shoulder season. Businesses can upload their events and find a full campaign activation guide at www.failteireland.ie/winterindublin
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-andInclusive-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 Dublin
Regional Tourism Strategy for Dublin
Fáilte Ireland’s Regional Tourism Development Strategies outline a vision for tourism which contain a five-year strategic framework for the sustainable development for each of Fáilte Ireland’s 4 regional brands - The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands and Dublin. By capitalising on the uniqueness of each brand they set 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. A key focus of the Regional Tourism Development Strategy for Dublin will be growing the region’s appeal to new markets, including key domestic segments, while also continuing to develop and enhance experiences that will encourage visitors to do more while they are here, unlocking the full potential of Dublin.
Destination and Experience Development Plans
In 2025, Fáilte Ireland will launch, develop, and progress different Destination and Experience Development Plans (DEDP’s) for the Dublin region. These five-year plans coordinate all tourism development activity around a single five-year vision and capture the unique themes that are central to a destination. They are prepared and owned by both public and private sector stakeholders.
Dublin City DEDP
Several key agencies and organisations have been involved in the development of the Dublin City DEDP, including Dublin City Council, Tourism Ireland, Waterways Ireland, Dublin Town, Temple Bar Company, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, and representatives from individual tourism businesses. This is a work in progress currently, with a number of catalytic and destination enabling projects identified to deliver on the objectives of the plan. The plan is expected to launch in 2025.
Dublin Mountains DEDP
Fáilte Ireland is currently developing a plan for the Dublin Mountains and will be developed in partnership with local authorities (South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council) and other key stakeholders. A draft DEDP is expected in late Q1 2025 with the completed plan to be published in Q2 2025.
Docklands DEDP
The Docklands DEDP set out to deliver an enhanced visitor proposition for the destination, with the overall objective of increasing visitor flow into the area. A key achievement has been the establishment of a tourism cluster, resulting in strong destination alliances and partnerships. The outputs of this review will be included in the new Dublin City DEDP, as these pieces of work merge into a single plan for the city in 2025.
Dublin Coast DEDP
Work will commence on a Dublin Coast DEDP, working closely with three local authorities - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and Dublin City Council, key agencies, and industry and community stakeholders on its development.
Investment in Dublin
Capital Investment in Dublin
Dublin Castle Visitor Hub
€2.3million
This project is in progress and consists of the development of a new Visitor Experience Hub which will include reception, welcome exhibition, ticketing, improved security, improved operations, new digital services and visitor welfare facilities, in partnership with the OPW.
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN LIBRARY/ BOOKOF KELLS
€2.7million
THE LITTLE MUSEUM OF DUBLIN
€1.77million
Dublin Castle Records Tower
€2.8million
Fáilte Ireland is working in partnership with the OPW to develop a new lift which will allow visitors to the top of the tower allowing panoramic views of the grounds and the oldest part of the city. A new museum showcasing Dublin’s medieval treasures with a strong link to Dublin Castle will cover 4 floors in the tower.
CASINO AT MARINO €1.5million
TOURISM MASTERPLAN FOR THE PHOENIX
€300,000
Platforms for Growth 2 - Shared Facility Centres for Water Sports Activities - Killiney
These best-in-class facilities will help extend the outdoor tourism season by providing year-round hot showers, changing rooms, toilets, secure storage, induction spaces, and equipment washdown areas. Accessibility and sustainability will be key focus points for the project, ensuring full wheelchair access and the installation of solar heating panels. It will also feature a Changing Places facility along with an accessible toilet.
Platforms for Growth Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme
€1 million investment allocated across five projects to facilitate the development of gala dinner venues of scale in four of Ireland’s business events hubs - Dublin, Kerry, the Shannon Region and Galway.
n Custom House Quarter Ltd., Dublin
n Killarney Brewing & Distilling Visitors Experience Limited, Kerry
Festivals And Events
n Claregalway Castle, Galway
n St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway
n Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick
CUSTOM HOUSE VISITOR CENTRE
€200,000
Festivals and events are a vital component of the visitor experience for local, domestic and international audiences. Fáilte Ireland has identified tourism focused festivals and events as a key driver for tourism growth, particularly in the off-season. Festival 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 offpeak season.
€1.2m Investment €1.0m Total Investment OVER €4.33m in Festival Funding
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 Irelands own Strategic Festivals Fund supports over 40 Festivals and Participative Events with a tourism focus.
Fáilte Ireland Initiatives for Dublin
Destination Towns in Dublin
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. Destination Towns funding of over €1.1m provided across 4 Dublin towns: Skerries, Docklands, Dún Laoghaire and Lucan.
Dublin Coastal Trail
Embracing Dublin’s unique mix of coastal and city experiences is now easier than ever with the launch of the new Dublin Coastal Trail. Developed by Fáilte Ireland in partnership with Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and Iarnród Éireann, the trail opens up access to the Dublin coastline and encourages visitors to explore the towns, outdoor activities and attractions that lie within easy reach of the city centre. New information signage across 11 coastal villages has been installed that distills each location’s story and highlights what is unmissable and memorable in the area.
In total, there are eleven stops along the Trail, each with its own fascinating tale to tell and experiences to share. 101 plaques have been installed at the
relevant DART or rail station stop also to further enhance orientation for visitors.
Orientation
Fáilte Ireland is currently developing a new visitor orientation strategy and implementation plan to enhance visitors’ ability to explore and experience all that Dublin city and county has to offer. The output of this study will result in a five-year roadmap with an action plan for 2025 to be agreed with stakeholders. Key areas will include transport hubs, the Dubline trail, visitor corridors, a neighbourhood strategy and implementation plan, phase two of the Dublin Coastal Trail, access to the Dublin Mountains, and a ‘Dublin by bike’ visitor proposition.
Culture Strategy
Recognising the key role that culture plays in the visitor experience of Dublin, Fáilte Ireland will commence work on a strategy to help position and differentiate Dublin’s unique culture offering. Working with key stakeholders, it will seek to optimise Dublin’s cultural assets, experiences, and heritage across the region and further enhance the appeal of Dublin as a destination for both domestic and international visitors.
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
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
