SINN Féin councillor Séighin Ó Ceallaigh believes that Limerick is seriously lacking in national support and promotion.
This he says is “evident from the latest figures from Fáilte Ireland for 2017 which has Limerick ranked as the sixth most popular destination for overseas tourists and a mere fourteenth for domestic tourists”.
“Limerick City and County Council has been investing in tourism promotion, and festivals and events, but we need to be met halfway. With the exception of Dublin, all of the counties ahead of us in the rankings are along the Wild Atlantic Way, which speaks volumes,” Ó Ceallaigh claimed.
“Limerick only had half the number of overseas tourists that Kerry had, and our nearest neighbours Clare had over 100,000 more foreign visitors last year. It is clear that national support is helping these counties, but Limerick has been ignored for big tourism schemes like the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.
“The story gets even worse when we look at domestic tourism. Limerick had only 280,000 domestic visitors last year, compared to Cork’s 1.1million, and we are even lagging behind counties like Wicklow and Kilkenny.”
The Council’s work, the City East representative maintains, has increased tourist numbers over the past few years, but when competing against counties who have the major tourism routes, it is a “losing battle”.
“I will continue to put pressure on Fáilte Ireland, and the Minister for Tourism to secure a place for Limerick on both the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, so that Limerick sees it’s fair share from Irish tourism,” he concluded.
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