2,000 at Failte Ireland Plans Launch
Fáilte Ireland unveiled its plans to drive sustainable tourism development across Ireland at its annual industry briefing. The announcement was made at a virtual event opened by newly appointed Minister for Tourism Peter Burke TD and watched online by over 2,000 tourism operators, providers and employers.
The plan is designed to support tourism businesses in driving revenue and maintaining competitiveness, ensuring the continued growth and sustainability of Ireland’s tourism industry. Key components include supporting the sustainable and authentic development of year-round destinations throughout Ireland, highlighting the diverse tourism offerings across the country to boost domestic travel and new plans to strengthen the business tourism sector.
Additionally, Failte Ireland has invested €14.5 million in 11 new tourism projects set to be completed across the country this year.
Recognising the importance of festivals and events as key motivators for off-peak travel, Fáilte Ireland will continue supporting key festivals including New Year’s Festival Dublin, St. Patrick’s Festival Dublin, six regional St. Patrick’s Day festivals and Púca in Co. Meath. In addition, Fáilte Ireland will invest €600,000 in a programme of events across various regions of Ireland that will establish the month of October as a time to visit Ireland and experience the authentic Home of Halloween.
As part of its ongoing commitment to growth, Fáilte Ireland's plans for 2025 focus on helping businesses grow revenue as they continue to face cost pressures. This will be done through business supports focussed on four strategic areas (climate, digitisation, people & performance and commercial resilience), a full programme of sales opportunities, and the continued roll out of a business tourism strategy to attract more business events to Ireland. There is also a programme of domestic marketing activity planned, aimed at spreading visitors across the regions beyond the busy summer months.
As part of the online session, Fáilte Ireland shared its latest research on the tourism industry’s performance in 2024 as well as expectations for 2025. Outlook for the year ahead was positive among respondents with 39% of businesses expecting their visitor levels to be up in 2025, and 42% expecting volumes to remain the same as last year. However, cost pressures continue to dominate concerns, especially “energy” (cited by 57%) and “payroll” (56%).
During the briefing, Failte Ireland welcomed the 7.6% increase in tourism beds available due to the cessation of government contracts and the opening of new accommodation capacity as positive for tourism.
Specific online briefings for each of Fáilte Ireland’s regional experience brands - Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Dublin and the Wild Atlantic Way - will take place on Thursday 27th February.
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