This article is from page 8 of the 2006-02-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
SHANNON Development has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue TD, of up to €1 million to drive new strategic tourism marketing initiatives for Ireland’s Western Regions.
The Shannon region is one of the most important in tourism terms among those getting the new funding and will be benefiting along with Ireland West, and Ireland North West.
The overall Western Regions fund of up to €1.5 million for 2006 will be jointly funded by Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, the regional tourism authorities and their industry partners.
Welcoming the announcement, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development said, “This fund will allow us to undertake a range of tourism initiatives during the coming year. We will again be teaming up with Ireland West Tourism and North West Tourism to promote the West of Ireland as a holiday destination during 2006.
“Up to €1.5 million will be spent on promotion and related activities in the UK, US and key European markets, with the objective of enticing more visitors to holiday in the West,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of the Super Regions Tourism Marketing Initiative, the Minister said that the value of cross-region co-operation spoke for itself, “both in regard to economies of scale and increased market penetration.
Shannon, Ireland West and the North West Region could be said to have ‘pioneered’ this concept last year, when they came together to undertake a Special Strategic Marketing Initiative.
“The exposure and impact achieved by these three regions through pooling their funds and other resources, far exceeded the sum of what they could have achieved individually.”