A NEW strategy to develop tourism across Limerick city and county envisages that the total number of visitors to Limerick will reach 1.17 million per annum, generating more than €360 million in revenue and creating 1,500 new jobs by 2023.
The strategy being developed by Limerick City and County Council has identified Limerick’s unique position on the west coast of Ireland and as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way as central to developing the sector.
A wide-ranging consultation process has involved key stakeholders and representatives from the sector across the city and county including West Limerick Resources and Ballyhoura Development Company. In addition, the Limerick City and County Council has sought input from other relevant national stakeholders including Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, which have overall responsibility for developing tourism in Ireland.
Consultation has been carried out with members of Limerick Public Participation Network (PPN) and public workshops have been held in Adare, Templeglantine, Kilmallock and Limerick city, bringing together voices from across Limerick in a range of sectors of relevance to tourism, and highlighted the wealth of knowledge and experience held by local people throughout the county.
The draft strategy aims to revitalise the tourism sector in Limerick, capture key opportunities to grow the sector and highlight priority action areas to unlock the significant benefits that a thriving tourism industry can bring.
It aligns with the Limerick 2030 Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick which has earmarked tourism as one of the key sectors for future growth and addresses the need for a joined up tourism strategy for Limerick and a more coordinated approach to the development of the sector.
The framework for tourism is based around four key drivers which are broad enough in scope to appeal to the key audiences and which also provides a solid foundation in terms of the attributes and assets of the destination on which to build – such as waterways, activities, heritage, and arts and culture in both an urban as well as a rural environment.
The draft strategy has been presented to the Economic Development, Enterprise and Planning SPC of Limerick City and County Council and has been positively received.
Pat Daly, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Economic Development with Limerick City and County Council said: “We have consulted widely, and particularly with Fáilte Ireland to develop this strategy and have identified that positioning Limerick as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way is central to growing the tourism sector here.”
The opportunity now exists to leverage the Wild Atlantic Way brand for Limerick in conjunction with all our partners and Limerick ticks all the boxes to provide those brilliant visitor experiences as part of the wider Wild Atlantic Way region, which aligns with Fáilte Ireland’s plans to develop tourism in Limerick. We are in the middle of our final phase of consultation and would love to hear from anyone else with suggestions and comments on our draft strategy to get in contact with us.”
The draft Limerick Tourism Strategy 2017-2023 can be viewed by clicking on the following link www.limerick.ie.
The closing date for submissions is Wednesday 11 April 2018 and submissions can be emailed to [email protected] or sent to Tourism Department, Limerick City and County Council, Merchant’s Quay, Limerick V94 EH90.
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