Lough Derg VEDP

The Visitor Experience Development Plan

Our resources So what’s the Plan?

The Visitor Experience Development Plan sets out the overall approach to Destination Planning for the next five years.

It illustrates the unique attractions of Lough Derg and how best to develop visitor experiences across the area by providing:

✓ a steer for experience development based on geographically distinctive opportunities;

✓ insights into what visitors need and want;

✓ a framework to help cluster experiences;

✓ a collaborative approach to promoting the region; and

✓ useful ways to track progress.

The Plan, developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, shines a light on the work already underway to develop visitor experience, aligns it with the wider ambition for the Shannon region and identifies what needs to be done to meet the needs of current and future visitors.

How we achieved this

Our People and Businesses

Our towns, villages, lakes and landscape

Our target market

Who they are

✓ Connected families

✓ Great Escapers

✓ Culturally Curious

✓ Footloose Socialisers

What they want

✓ Authentic, accessible experiences

✓ Wellbeing and digital detox

✓ Varied and constructive activities

✓ Good food and accommodation

✓ Through Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, the Shannon Masterplan, County Development Plans and County Tourism Strategies.

✓ By harnessing tourism trends so we can deliver what people are looking for.

✓ By dovetailing with current investment projects.

Our ambition

Our aim is to make it easy for visitors to explore our historic towns and villages, our waterways and inland trails at their own pace on water, on foot and on two wheels. The Plan was created around the VICE model, which identifies sustainable tourism as the interaction between Visitors, the Industry that provides services to them, the Community and culture that hosts them and their collective impact on and response to the Environment where it all takes place.

We will develop Destination Lough Derg to ensure that the plan delivers:

Environment

…a distinctive and high quality visitor experience based around the principles of slow travel.

How we’ll do it Visitor Industry

…balanced and sustainable revenue and jobs growth with greater geographic and seasonal spread.

Our key commercial targets

Revenue from overseas visitors into the destination to

Domestic bed nights to the destination to

…the protection and enhancement of the environment of Lough Derg as the region’s fundamental tourism asset, in association with other key stakeholders.

Community

…benefits to local communities and contributes to a better place to live for everyone

Trending

It is important to be in a position to harness emerging trends

✓ Visitors are increasingly seeking authentic and personalised travel experiences

INCREASE

Occupancy Levels in the main hotels and accommodation providers particularly in the shoulder season

3% 3% 3%

Visitor numbers to the main attractions and activity providers in the destination to

INCREASE INCREASE

✓ They want to experience local life and come away with a well-rounded view of the area

✓ Travellers expect more information, decision making, interaction and personalisation

✓ They are looking for constructive activities that give them new skills and knowledge

✓ The concept of wellbeing runs through many of the activities offered with physical activity and mindfulness delivering stress relief

✓ The consumer desire for digital detox is growing but raises the challenge of wanting to go off grid and the requirement to document experiences.

This Plan rests on 4 pillars or Action Areas

1 PILLAR 2 PILLAR 3 PILLAR 4

Destination Management. Inclusive and collaborative partnership, with a consolidated approach to initiatives measured.

Destination Innovation. It aims to elevate the region to a destination, incorporating the key concepts of a destination, service excellence at each touch point for the visitor, variety and choice of accommodation and experiences, with a first-class food offering, all while embracing the progressive concept of slow travel.

The Hubs. The definition of 4 distinctive hubs which overlap and which can progress separately with a shared vision.

Destination Marketing. If the activity providers don’t see themselves as a destination, the visitor never will. The destination marketing strategy aims to be first in class at creating awareness of the unique offerings of the region through innovation and cohesive campaigns. Raising the shop window of all the experience providers will ensure the destination is viewed as a cohesive unit offering an exceptional product.

Slowing the pace

One of the key elements of the Plan is to promote the development of Slow Travel by enabling more interchanges for travellers to switch from one mode to another. This is designed to build in travel as part of the experience, by interacting with the locality and moving from land to water as opposed to simply getting from one place to another. The Plan aims to support initiatives which improve the existing infrastructure so the region builds a great Slow Travel Network.

✓ Having an abundance of outdoor activities

✓ An unspoilt stunning landscape with a relatively small footfall

✓ Unique heritage sites

✓ Authentic experiences with the local communities

✓ Food Tourism

✓ A necklace of villages and towns each with a unique character.

✓ All in a rural setting over an urban one

The VEDP defines the unique selling points of the region as

Mapping it out

The Plan sets out four distinct hubs around Lough Derg which will combine tourism opportunities in each of the regions of Killaloe/ Ballina, Holy Island and destination villages, Portumna and Nenagh.

Portumna Destination Hub

What it’s got

Portumna Castle, café and vegetable gardens is the most visited attraction around Lough Derg. The walks and trails of Portumna Forest Park and the historic relevance of the Irish Workhouse Centre are key draws to the region. The area also has a range of water activities with excellent fishing infrastructure and strong local food providers.

The 2024 Vision

Connected clusters of experiences for visitors with a range of small berthing opportunities off the beaten track. The seamless slow transport network means visitors can vary how and when they travel – on horse, bike, boat, canoe or foot.

The opportunities

✓ Better walking and cycling links between the town, castle and forest

✓ Potential to upgrade the Portumna water recreation area

✓ More visitor focused Main Street

✓ Opportunity to build on impact of the ecclesiastical heritage

✓ Potential of projects supported by the Heartlands Heritage Group

✓ Highlighting the Oak and Iron stories of the Slieve Aughty mountains.

✓ Opportunity to trail scattered accommodation

Killaloe/Ballina Destination hub

What it’s got

Killaloe/Ballina has a range of great outdoor activities on the water and along the trails. It offers historical interest, great accommodation and food options.

The 2024 Vision

Visitors will be able to plan and book joined up experiences online so they can head straight onto continuously safe trails from the town to the water to the mountains, with access to good food and water activities on the way.

The opportunities

✓ Adding to existing walking trails

✓ Linking walking and canoe trails so business can provide visitor services

✓ Open up a safe off-road link to Limerick

✓ Consider additional accommodation such as glamping, pods and cruise boat conversions.

✓ Improve key vistas such as Portroe

✓ Showcase the Coilte forest at Castlelough

✓ Consider the feasibility of new activities in nature locations with existing infrastructure

Holy Island and Destination Villages

What it’s got

Holy Island and the five lakeside settlements have masses of historical interest with lots of local creative workshops and restorative experiences. There’s plenty of good accommodation, places to eat and drink, and a range of water activities around the area.

The 2024 Vision

A more strategic link up of experiences will allow visitors to have connected, multi day trips with more creative ways to experience the distinct history of the area and unusual and distinctive places to stay. A seamless slow travel network will mean travellers can boat up and walk or cycle back while stopping off for food or entertainment.

Nenagh Gateway Town

What it’s got

The historic streetscape with its range of local shops, facilities and the arts are a key attraction for tourists. Plans are underway to develop a new Tourist Information Office and consider the feasibility of creating an Historic Quarter.

The 2024 Vision

A pedestrian friendly town with great information and orientation on arrival. Great festivals and events that celebrate Nenagh’s food and culture, a dedicated Historical Quarter and accessible, interpretative river walks.

The opportunities

✓ Full implementation of the Holy Island visitor management plan

✓ Potential for looped, lakeside walks

✓ Promotion of the historic role of the harbours in food transport

✓ Increase nighttime activities in lakeshore villages

✓ Provision of more tranquility mooring zones

✓ Opportunity to trail scattered accommodation

✓ More accessible information on angling opportunities

The opportunities

✓ The possibility of a new Historic Quarter in the town centre to include the Castle, Gaol and Court House.

✓ Potential to improve the Nenagh cycling network

✓ More visitor information at arrival points

✓ Scope for better story telling approaches to communicate the heritage of the town

✓ Upgrade Slí Éala to a fully off road trail

The Plan in Action

We have set out a detailed Action Plan in the Visitor Experience Development Plan 2020-2024. Here’s a quick overview:

Resource the Partnership Organise the stakeholder group and resource the tourism role at Lough Derg.

Consolidate the Approach Align with the Tourism Masterplan for the Shannon and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands (IHH).

Coordinate Lake Wide Initiatives that deliver a high quality visitor experience.

Measure Progress Measure performance and remain responsive to emerging evidence on visitor behaviour and preferences. 2.1

Provide a Great Visitor Welcome Ensuring a great welcome for visitors across the whole destination.

Enable a Choice of Accommodation Support the development of a variety of unique accommodation options to meet visitor needs.

Facilitate Slow Travel Make it easy for our visitors to explore Lough Derg sustainably by developing services along the slow travel network.

Offer Great Food Enhance the visitor experience with high quality, locally produced food on and around Lough Derg.

Killaloe/Ballina Destination Hub A natural playground with fresh perspectives on this iconic Shannon crossing; the perfect base to get active in nature

Inis Cealtra (Holy Island) and Connected Destination

Villages Explore Inis Cealtra, a 6th century holy island connected across lake waters to a necklace of historic lakeside villages and harbours.

Portumna Destination Hub Uncover Irish history through a connected network of woodland, water and mountain trails, extending from Portumna’s historic core to nearby villages and monastic settlements.

Nenagh Gateway Town A bustling market town steeped in heritage, with a great reputation for food, compelling stories and a great welcome to the Lough Derg region at Nenagh’s Historic Quarter.

Develop a Distinctive Digital presence Update and maintain a distinctive Lough Derg digital presence.

Ensure Cohesive Communication Work with national and local bodies to coordinate communication and ensure cohesive messaging.

Partnership Support marketing actions of tourism businesses.

Be Market Ready Work together and promote market-ready offers, packages and itineraries.

How we’ll measure our success

No matter how good an individual tourism business is, its potential to thrive depends on the wider environment. The opportunities to attract more customers, to add value, and therefore generate higher spending, are all dependent on the quality of the surroundings.

Working with the sector

✓ Encouraging businesses to feed data to the national tourism research unit and local survey initiatives by the Lough Derg Marketing Group

✓ Working with Fáilte Ireland in the Lough Derg region to ascertain real time insights into visitor numbers, visitor satisfaction and visitor movement

✓ Collating 5-yearly visitor satisfaction surveys as part of the Shannon Tourism Masterplan initiative

Investment

We will assess impact by measuring

Visitors... visitor feedback and tracking progress against KPIs

Industry... increase in the number of providers, variety of activities and spend

Community... increase in employment and progression of community initiatives

Environment... the impact on water quality, traffic, footfall etc.

We have set out a number of Key Performance Indicators across the areas of visitor, industry, community and environment so that we can track progress. Find

Investing in robust data collection, market intelligence and impact assessment systems

✓ Sourcing, channeling and communicating quantitative and qualitative information

✓ Developing systems to include in-destination survey, visitor questionnaires and gathering data at point of sale

✓ We will create an environment that encourages private and public investment

https://discoverloughderg.ie/category/news/