Three Donegal towns have been chosen by Fáilte Ireland as part of a list of 45 towns and villages from across the country that are being considered for the 2013 Tourism Towns Award.
Raphoe in all its splendor
However, there will be some raised eyebrows across the county with many well-known ‘tourist’ towns and villages being left off the list.
The three towns from Donegal are Letterkenny, Raphoe and Doochary.
The award, now in its second year, is designed to recognise Irish towns and villages where the local community goes the extra mile to enhance their appeal to tourists.
The top ten “Highly Commended Tourism Towns” will be announced at the National Tidy Towns Awards later in year with the overall winner to be announced by Fáilte Ireland in November.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring said: “It’s very encouraging that so many towns and villages from across the country have once again entered the competition in its second year.
“Last year’s winning town of Portmagee in Kerry really captured the role of local communities in promoting and developing tourism. I am looking forward to hearing who has made it into the top ten and the overall winner later in the year. Best of luck and sincere thanks to all those towns and communities involved.”
Patricia Kennedy, of the Tourism Town Committee with Portmagee, last year’s winner, believes that the award has helped boost the tourism prospects of the town. She commented:
“The local community have been hugely positive since the win and were delighted, humbled and proud with achieving this recognition. Everyone knew that this award wasn’t just for Portmagee as a tourism destination it was an award for the commitment and dedication of the whole community to a top class visitor experience. Since then, other groups have come on board in organising events to raise the profile of the area and putting Portmagee further on the map. Many businesses are also updating their web sites to enable them to offer seasonal experiences to guests through websites such as Discover Ireland. As part of the prize from Fáilte Ireland a Marketing Mentor was assigned and is helping us through our plan – focusing on providing a greater quality of services and experiences and on getting that message out there.”
Now in its second year, the award will continue to focus on how participating towns have developed their local area in the following key tourism areas:
Sense of Place – How the town tells its own unique story to visitors, what’s special about it, and what distinguishes it from other towns.
Local Involvement – How the local community works together to provide an authentic visitor experience.
Tourism Products Available – What the town has to offer visitors.
Development and promotion of the town – How the town takes a unified approach to marketing and developing the town into a “tourism town”.
Beverley Sherwood, Destination Development Manager with Fáilte Ireland emphasised the important characteristics of a tourism town and the how the award scheme seeks to recognise them:
“For us a good tourism town is all about the role of the community in welcoming visitors and telling the story of the local area all add significantly to the enjoyment that visitors have.”
“We have taken great care in drawing up the assessment criteria, ensuring that towns receiving an award have enhanced the experience of their visitors, improved their local ‘tourism offering’ and encouraged community wide participation in the development of local tourism.”
The top ten towns will each receive €1,000 with the eventual winner receiving a further €10,000 along with marketing and development supports from Fáilte Ireland.