Peadar Tóibín
Question:82. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media what steps her Department is taking to increase tourism in the Boyne Valley. [33735/23]
View answerThursday, 13 July 2023
Questions (82)
Written answers
The Regional Tourism Development Strategies outline a vision for tourism that sets out a five-year strategic framework for the sustainable development of Fáilte Ireland’s four regional brands. The strategies set a clear path ahead for the development of new and enhanced visitor experiences, building greater capacity and capability in the industry, and providing a clear strategy for attracting visitors that will stay longer and spend more.
The Regional Tourism Development Strategies will be activated across every region through a series of local area action plans, referred to as Destination and Experience Development Plans (DEDPs). Fáilte Ireland’s commitment is for every part of the country to have a DEDP created in partnership with local stakeholders.
The key objectives of the DEDPs are as follows:
• Informed by research, engage with local stakeholders to identify and agree a vision for their area that can showcase its potential at its very best.
• Agree a visitor strategy that focuses collective effort around developing the experiences that meet the needs and motivations of visitors.
• Ensure the local experiences are brought to life through the development of the optimal mix of hero and ancillary attractions and experiences that that entice people to the area and retain them.
• Strengthen the value of tourism to the local community by providing employment opportunities.
• Provide a coherent approach to destination recovery post COVID-19 through a focus on the short-term projects while also retaining a medium to longer development approach
I launched the ‘Ancient’ Destination Experience Development Plan (DEDP) in May 2021. It has brought together the public and private sector in a collaborative and progressive framework. The 'Ancient' DEDP is designed to be a roadmap for enhancing the existing 'Ancient' visitor proposition to achieve the objectives of addressing seasonality, increasing visitor numbers, improving dwell time and visitor dispersion across the destination.
There are four Catalyst Projects contained in the Ancient DEDP for the Boyne Valley, Louth/Meath area as follows:
1. Re-imagining the Boyne Valley Drive – The review of the Boyne Valley Drive identified a project roadmap and action plan to achieve its objective of re-imagining the Boyne Valley Drive from a point-to-point journey between some of Ireland’s most important and compelling heritage sites, to a wider immersive visitor proposition that becomes a 5,000-year journey through time.
2. Boyne Navigation and Greenway – an announcement is expected on the preferred route for the Boyne Greenway in the coming months. The proven success of the Mayo and Waterford Greenways makes this a very exciting prospect for the Boyne Valley in the coming years and Fáilte Ireland will continue to work with the implementation partners to ensure an immersive, compelling experience is implemented.
3. Ancient Alive – Bringing to life the Ancient legends of the area, Fáilte Ireland continues to work with the industry on experience development to bring new experiences to life in the Boyne Valley where the visitor can experience what is unique in the area.
4. Irish Food Stories – 5,000 Years of Food across the Boyne Valley and Louth/Meath. Fáilte Ireland is working with the industry and its strategic partners to tell the Irish Food story through the Boyne Valley. This entails Fáilte Ireland working with the producers and food providers in the area under the marketing group of the Boyne Valley Flavours and Sea Louth SEA Food trail.
Fáilte Ireland will continue to work closely with all strategic partners such as Meath and Louth County Councils, the Office of Public Works and the hospitality and tourism industries over the term of the 5-year plan to achieve sustainable growth in the years ahead, which will positively impact the area.