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The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027 is a roadmap for the tourism industry and all stakeholders involved in tourism in the region to navigate the current challenges and steer a course towards a sustainable recovery and continued success. The plan sets out a strategic approach to unlocking the commercial potential of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. It will ensure focus on tourism development is sustainable and regenerative and that the benefits accrue to local communities and to nature.
The strategy has been prepared during a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Despite having weathered the disruption caused by Brexit and COVID-19, the industry is now facing into an energy crisis of unprecedented scale resulting in further uncertainty.
The Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027 is primarily informed by the Government’s Tourism Strategy People, Place and Policy: Growing Tourism to 2025, Fáilte Ireland’s Corporate Strategy 2021–2023 and the report of the Sustainable Tourism Working Group Actions to Promote Sustainable Tourism Practices 2021–2023. The Strategy is also informed by planning policy (the National Planning Framework, the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and lower tier plans).
**The Context **
The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands brand was launched in 2018 to provide the Midlands with a distinct and compelling tourism proposition. Since its launch it has been very well received by both visitors and industry alike. It has strong brand adoption by tourism businesses and a 47% brand awareness rate among domestic visitors in 2019. In the same year, tourism in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands was worth €307m (€178m from international visitors and €129m from domestic visitors) supporting approximately 8,000 jobs. Nationally, in 2019 Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands had a 4.1% share of overseas visitors and a 6.7% share of domestic visitors. Participation by tourism businesses from the region at Meitheal, Ireland’s leading tour operator trade event, rose from 8 in 2018 to almost 40 in 2022.
The Challenge
Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is still at an early stage of maturity as a tourism destination but with distinctive natural and cultural assets and a strong community base. The strategic challenge is to increase domestic and international awareness and consideration of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as a distinctive region and to support the industry in sustainably leveraging the abundance of available natural and cultural assets to develop compelling visitor experiences that meet and exceed visitors’ expectations, resulting in increased visitor revenue and local jobs, while protecting the unique environment of the region.
Our Ambition
Our ambition for this strategy is to drive recovery and growth of the visitor economy in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands to create sustainable, high–quality jobs that will support and strengthen local communities while protecting our natural environment. This will be achieved by raising awareness and consideration of the region as a visitor destination and increasing the average length of stay. In doing so, we will redefine tourism success based on our sustainability goals.
While 2022 is a strong year due to pent–up demand and deferred bookings from the previous two years, 2023 and beyond are expected to be more challenging. Forecasting the rate and pace of recovery and growth is difficult but at a minimum we expect a return to 2019 levels of revenue by 2026, in inflation adjusted terms, with an ambition to exceed this.
We also expect an additional 5% supply side capacity (accommodation, visitor attractions, activity providers, etc.) to come on stream over the period of this strategy, which would be achieved through optimising existing assets (e.g. longer opening hours) as well as developing new stock.
It is Fáilte Ireland’s long-term objective to ensure a greater regional spread of the socio-economic benefits of tourism across the country. For the Hidden Heartlands, this means growing tourism revenue at a faster rate in areas that are less visited relative to the more popular destinations nationally over the period of this strategy while staying within existing infrastructural and environmental capacities. While the short-term focus is on recovery in all areas, as the recovery progresses, we will set more specific regional targets which will be considered at the mid-term review of this regional tourism development strategy.
The 10-Year Vision
It’s 2032 and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is one of Europe’s leading regenerative tourism destinations (top 10 ranking), a place where tourism works to create flourishing places and thriving communities.
The region has become well known as a sustainable destination where visitors can reconnect with nature while taking time out to reconnect with family and friends. With the River Shannon and the Beara Breifne Way at its heart, and a well–connected web of Greenways and Blueways spread throughout the region, this is a place where nature is the backdrop to a wide range of compelling visitor experiences, from outdoor activities to uncovering intriguing heritage and cultural gems that continually surprise and exceed visitors’ expectations.
Active fun–filled days roll into relaxing, cosy evenings in historic hotels and lakeside lodges. Its characteristic towns and villages are vibrant and bustling with great restaurants and musical pubs. The region, which is highly valued for its special environmental qualities and biodiversity and its easy access to the outdoors, has also earned a reputation for its wellness qualities, where the visitor is re–energised by nature.
Strategic Approach
The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy will achieve a new vision for tourism in the region by focusing on the following strategic objectives:
The following paragraphs outline how we will work collectively to achieve the opportunity presented by tackling the challenges that face the sustainable development of the region.
The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027 is a roadmap for the tourism industry and all stakeholders involved in tourism in the region to navigate the current challenges and steer a course towards a sustainable recovery and continued success. The plan sets out a strategic approach to unlocking the commercial potential of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. It will ensure focus on tourism development is sustainable and regenerative and that the benefits accrue to local communities and to nature.
The strategy has been prepared during a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Despite having weathered the disruption caused by Brexit and COVID-19, the industry is now facing into an energy crisis of unprecedented scale resulting in further uncertainty.
The Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027 is primarily informed by the Government’s Tourism Strategy People, Place and Policy: Growing Tourism to 2025, Fáilte Ireland’s Corporate Strategy 2021–2023 and the report of the Sustainable Tourism Working Group Actions to Promote Sustainable Tourism Practices 2021–2023. The Strategy is also informed by planning policy (the National Planning Framework, the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and lower tier plans).
**The Context **
The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands brand was launched in 2018 to provide the Midlands with a distinct and compelling tourism proposition. Since its launch it has been very well received by both visitors and industry alike. It has strong brand adoption by tourism businesses and a 47% brand awareness rate among domestic visitors in 2019. In the same year, tourism in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands was worth €307m (€178m from international visitors and €129m from domestic visitors) supporting approximately 8,000 jobs. Nationally, in 2019 Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands had a 4.1% share of overseas visitors and a 6.7% share of domestic visitors. Participation by tourism businesses from the region at Meitheal, Ireland’s leading tour operator trade event, rose from 8 in 2018 to almost 40 in 2022.
The Challenge
Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is still at an early stage of maturity as a tourism destination but with distinctive natural and cultural assets and a strong community base. The strategic challenge is to increase domestic and international awareness and consideration of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as a distinctive region and to support the industry in sustainably leveraging the abundance of available natural and cultural assets to develop compelling visitor experiences that meet and exceed visitors’ expectations, resulting in increased visitor revenue and local jobs, while protecting the unique environment of the region.
Our Ambition
Our ambition for this strategy is to drive recovery and growth of the visitor economy in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands to create sustainable, high–quality jobs that will support and strengthen local communities while protecting our natural environment. This will be achieved by raising awareness and consideration of the region as a visitor destination and increasing the average length of stay. In doing so, we will redefine tourism success based on our sustainability goals.
While 2022 is a strong year due to pent–up demand and deferred bookings from the previous two years, 2023 and beyond are expected to be more challenging. Forecasting the rate and pace of recovery and growth is difficult but at a minimum we expect a return to 2019 levels of revenue by 2026, in inflation adjusted terms, with an ambition to exceed this.
We also expect an additional 5% supply side capacity (accommodation, visitor attractions, activity providers, etc.) to come on stream over the period of this strategy, which would be achieved through optimising existing assets (e.g. longer opening hours) as well as developing new stock.
It is Fáilte Ireland’s long-term objective to ensure a greater regional spread of the socio-economic benefits of tourism across the country. For the Hidden Heartlands, this means growing tourism revenue at a faster rate in areas that are less visited relative to the more popular destinations nationally over the period of this strategy while staying within existing infrastructural and environmental capacities. While the short-term focus is on recovery in all areas, as the recovery progresses, we will set more specific regional targets which will be considered at the mid-term review of this regional tourism development strategy.
The 10-Year Vision
It’s 2032 and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is one of Europe’s leading regenerative tourism destinations (top 10 ranking), a place where tourism works to create flourishing places and thriving communities.
The region has become well known as a sustainable destination where visitors can reconnect with nature while taking time out to reconnect with family and friends. With the River Shannon and the Beara Breifne Way at its heart, and a well–connected web of Greenways and Blueways spread throughout the region, this is a place where nature is the backdrop to a wide range of compelling visitor experiences, from outdoor activities to uncovering intriguing heritage and cultural gems that continually surprise and exceed visitors’ expectations.
Active fun–filled days roll into relaxing, cosy evenings in historic hotels and lakeside lodges. Its characteristic towns and villages are vibrant and bustling with great restaurants and musical pubs. The region, which is highly valued for its special environmental qualities and biodiversity and its easy access to the outdoors, has also earned a reputation for its wellness qualities, where the visitor is re–energised by nature.
Strategic Approach
The Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy will achieve a new vision for tourism in the region by focusing on the following strategic objectives:
The following paragraphs outline how we will work collectively to achieve the opportunity presented by tackling the challenges that face the sustainable development of the region.
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