Press Release:

The meeting last week between Cork City councillors and Fáilte Ireland was a productive wake-up call to the competitive nature of tourism, and what type of product is invested in nationally according to Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy.

 Cork City’s tourism needs a vision for its future, a realistic plan, pressure for change and actions to be executed according to Fáilte Ireland Executive Jenny De Saulles of Ireland’s Ancient East (IAE) programme.

Ms De Saulles made the calls to Members of Cork City Council who recently received a presentation by her on challenges for Cork City within the IAE. Whereas the tourism industry in general is in a good place – growth and jobs- can be see, there are challenges with the Impending Brexit and making sure that tourism creates sustainable jobs and business.

Cllr McCarthy noted “Fáilte Ireland has an ambitious growth target of 3.4 % by 2028. The ambitions places pressure on future potential tourism sites to be of a high quality, unique and a signature experience; this has a knock-on effect on what the city should aspire to for the future in its tourism product”.

Ms De Saulles outlined that Cork is well positioned between the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East, international access is good and Irish Hotel Federation works hard in the region. The City has good festivals and a range of visitor experiences. The City’s tourism has vast potential for growth and must consider where that growth should be, and what role Cork City Council as a local authority should be.

Cllr McCarthy noted; “the questions we received revolved around key questions, does Cork City need an international signature tourism site? what does the visitor want? should we develop the city’s extant tourism products? What is the role of a local authority in tourism in supporting a tourism product? I found the meeting very productive to discuss the future of Elizabeth Fort and the Old Shandon Butter Exchange building. Small scale funding is available for both and should be moved upon quickly. It was clear from the discussion that the city needs a strong joined up thinking tourism strategy for the future”.