Galway City tourism officer to be appointed

A dedicated tourism officer will be appointed for the first time to Galway City to ramp up the the experience for visitors and encourage more spending by those come.

The officer, who will be employed on a three-year contract, must have a third level qualification with five years’ experience in marketing or tourism or a long track record in in the industry.

The salary advertised is between €48,000 and €63,000 depending on qualifications and experience.

The tourism officer will be charged with implementing the Galway Tourism Strategy and annual tourism marketing plans and coordinating initiatives in the sector to increase numbers.

The person must coordinate tourism clusters and networks within the city and develop collective marketing initiatives on a cross-city and regional basis.

Their role also involves promoting Galway City’s tourist attractions, facilities, festivals and events.

They will assist in the development of ‘brand Galway’ and identify potential opportunities here and in the EU to secure additional funding to implement the marketing strategy.

They are also in charge of the tourism and marketing budget for the year.

Chairperson of the Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Strategic Policy committee, Cllr Padraig Conneely, said the decision to recruit a tourism officer has been long overdue.

“I’ve been looking for this a long time – it’s something that a lot of counties have and that Galway needs given the importance of tourism in this city and county,” he remarked.

“We were always told funding wasn’t available and the duties were carried out by different departments. At least now they will be done by a single person, who can coordinate all aspects of our tourism policy and can be the go-to person for agencies and communities to contact.”