'Tourism has so much to offer': Major plans in Cork to grow visitor numbers
Pictured in 2020 From left: Jeremy Murray, Anne Cahill, Seamus Heaney (head of Visit Cork) and Evelyn O'Sullivan (all Cork Convention Bureau) at the Visit Cork Industry Day at the Radisson Hotel and Spa, Little Island. Picture: Brian Lougheed
Cork’s official tourism body has announced plans to aid Cork’s tourism recovery and grow visitor numbers in the region, launching a four-year strategy.
Visit Cork, which is the official tourism body for the Cork region with responsibility for attracting leisure (Pure Cork) and business tourists (Cork Convention Bureau), launched its Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 at a Tourism Industry Day in Fota Island Resort Hotel.
The event, which marked the first in-person tourism briefing to take place in Cork since March 2020, was held in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and Cork Airport and attended by nearly 200 industry colleagues.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin attended the briefing virtually.
“As a proud Corkonian, I know only too well the wonderful sights the region has to offer, and the warmth of its people,” he said.
“Tourism has so much to offer in supporting sustainable growth.
“The Government fully supports Visit Cork’s determination to drive job creation, economic development, and to ensure Cork remains a welcoming place for innovation, talent and tourists alike.”
As part of their plans to grow Cork’s share of the domestic and international market, Seamus Heaney, Head of Visit Cork, revealed that the DMO (Destination Marketing Organisation) is putting a new focus on showcasing the region as a sustainable tourism destination.
“This positioning will open huge opportunities as sustainable holidays and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) business is expected to be one of the biggest future tourism trends,” he said.
Visit Cork’s aim is to improve on Cork’s 2021 GDS-Index score of 70%.
This is the leading sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations around the world.
In order to achieve this, the organisation will continue to work with the local hospitality industry on a subsidised third party sustainable accreditation programme; they will host annual Smart Tourism seminar and training sessions; a Cork Convention Bureau Member Sustainability Charter will be created, and the team will incentivise trade partners through a yearly Visit Cork Green Award.
There are also plans to continue with the Visit Cork Green Week, which commenced in 2021.
In addition, all business tourism clients who are hosting a conference or event in Cork will be presented with CSR (corporate social responsibility) options to support Cork social, environmental and economic causes, and a legacy and social impact programme will be put in place for all future events.
Visit Cork has also announced their aim to increase the annual marketing spend to €1 million to promote Cork to leisure and business tourists.
Among numerous other initiatives, the team will focus on a new overseas market each year, in collaboration with Tourism Ireland and Cork Airport, to increase awareness in regions that have easy access links to Cork.
Visit Cork said it is also dedicated to creating stronger links between the city and county destinations, and new levels of cross selling, packaging and the collective promotion of Cork.
They also aim to help grow the quality and range of destination events that will attract domestic and international visitors throughout the year.
“Pre-pandemic, one in ten jobs were in the tourism and hospitality sector in Cork, with 22 cents from every euro spent going back into the exchequer,” Mr Heaney said.
“Tourism also supported 22,500 jobs here.
“Our goal is to help the industry to get back to those levels over the next year or so and grow thereafter.”
Commenting on business tourism, Evelyn O Sullivan, Manager at Cork Convention Bureau, said the future is looking positive.
“In 2021 we submitted six bids to host international conferences and already have just under €7m worth of confirmed business taking place in 2022. This almost sees us return to pre-Covid figures,” she said.
“Cork excels at attracting international association conferences, especially in sectors such as Agriculture, STEM, Space and Maritime, so there is huge potential to target this sector even further over the coming years, working closely with Fáilte Ireland, to grow Cork as a destination of choice for conference business.”
At the briefing, event partners Fáilte Ireland outlined the difficulties facing the sector on staffing and skills shortages, unveiling that 30% of businesses surveyed said they could face closure if such challenges are not resolved.
A major element of their work plan for 2022 is a multifaceted tourism careers strategy to address the staffing and skills crisis in tourism and hospitality including the first-ever Excellent Employer Programme.
To ensure a sustained and sustainable recovery, the tourism body unveiled plans to double their domestic marketing investment to drive short breaks to regions like Cork year-round.
They will also invest further in the digital presence of tourism businesses, and they launched Regional Tourism Strategies for Ireland’s Ancient East and the Wild Atlantic Way, in addition to a local Destination Development Plan.
Fáilte Ireland also outlined plans to reduce tourism’s carbon footprint.
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