Tourism in the west on crest of wave

More accommodation providers across the county should get on board the tourist trail as Fáilte Ireland are predicting yet another bumper tourist season for Galway.

That’s the advice from the state body, which is forecasting an increase in overseas tourists of 4% and a jump of 4% in domestic visitors to the Wild Atlantic Way counties, ahead of the national trend and exceeding last year’s record numbers attracted to the region by the marathon driving route.

Head of the Wild Atlantic Way in Fáilte Ireland, Fiona Monaghan, said figures from 2016 showed “very, very strong growth” from all overseas markets and very strong growth in the domestic market.

Heading into 2017, the outlook was very positive and optimistic, especially the European market, she explained.

“North American showed significant growth for the first quarter – 23% – while trips to Ireland from other areas increased by 16% to 110,800. This was down to an increase in new routes from North America and elsewhere.

“We anticipate further growth as these routes grow in popularity and the dollar exchange rate continues to be very favourable.

“We are cautiously watching visitor numbers from Great Britain. Visitor numbers are down by 6.5% in the first quarter, but that’s mainly short city breaks that have declined so it mainly affects Dublin. We are optimistic we’ll hold our own out west in terms of getting longer stay visitors.

“We’re looking at at least 3% overall growth in overseas visitors. We’re hoping the nine coastal counties will at least match that and exceed it – our target is probably in the region of 4% for international visitors and by 4% for the domestic market.”

The agency has invested heavily at the start of the year with a bespoke campaign in the UK urging people to come to the West Coast of Ireland. That €500,000 TV campaign run in conjunction with the local authorities aired in cities which have air access into the west such as Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

As a result, there was a phenomenal 64% jump over 2016 in bed nights booked along the Wild Atlantic Way over the duration of the campaign, between January to mid-February.

“We are focusing on increasing business in the shoulder seasons – April, Mary and June and September and October. July and August takes care of itself.

“For the first time since it was launched, a TV advertising campaign locally for the Wild Atlantic way has begun costing €1m. It will continue for the next four weeks and air again at the end of August, at a further cost of €400,000.”

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.