Galway County Council has adopted the first-ever tourism strategy for County Galway, Ireland’s leading cultural and natural heritage tourism destination.
The County Galway Tourism Strategy 2023-2031 sets out to spread the benefits of Galway’s growing tourism economy across the wider county, promote sustainable tourism development, support existing jobs and create new ones across the sector.
The tourism plan also is targeting a 10% increase in overall visitor spend by 2030 with a particular focus on attracting visitors who stay longer and spend more in Galway’s towns and villages.
“The adoption of this strategy means that, for the first time, there is a collaborative framework in place for the development of tourism over the next eight years across the County,” commented Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council.
The Tourism Strategy targets four strategic areas, which each come with key actions and recommendations for growth and specific targeted interventions to address local opportunities.
Mr. Conneally continued, “This tourism strategy represents an opportunity to support existing and create new employment, establish sustainability as a foundation for the future, and will extend the benefits of tourism to less-visited areas.”
The Strategy was formally adopted by the elected members of Galway County Council at their monthly meeting this week.
As the most visited destination outside of Dublin, Galway benefits considerably from tourism – with 984,000 domestic trips and 1.7 million overseas visitors contributing €754 million in tourism expenditure.
Cllr Liam Carroll, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council said, “The level of engagement by public bodies, private enterprises, communities and individuals in the development of this strategy underlines the far-reaching significance and benefits of tourism.”
“This partnership approach provides a solid and positive basis for the further development of tourism across our unique county, and I have no doubt that this strategy will serve visitors and communities across the county well in the coming years.”
Commenting on the Strategy’s goal of spreading the economic benefit of tourism across the wider county, Council Tourism Officer John Neary noted that not all areas of the county are equally well known.
“Core infrastructure – such as accommodation and attractions – is clustered in particular areas, naturally following the patterns of highest visitor demand.”
“One of the challenges of this strategy, therefore, is to seek to manage well-developed tourism areas within the County with the further growth of less-established areas.”
The County Galway Tourism Strategy 2023-2031 will be formally launched in early 2024, along with an Implementation Plan in the same year.
