Fáilte Ireland

Want to join a Great Place to Work? We are currently recruiting for the following positions: Seasonal Travel Advisor Finance Officer See details on how to apply here: https://lnkd.in/ep6ng4P7 #jobfairy 

Cuireann Fáilte Ireland fáilte roimh chuairteoirí go hÉirinn do cheiliúradh Lá Fhéile Pádraig. Fáilte Ireland is pleased to welcome thousands of visitors to locations across the country this weekend for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Festivals and events play a key role in delivering brilliant experiences, providing a unique reason for visitors to choose a destination and increase footfall for local businesses, supporting jobs and revenue generation. In addition to our national celebration of St Patrick’s Festival Dublin, Fáilte Ireland also supports regional St Patrick’s Day festivals in Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Waterford, Sligo, and Kilkenny. Fáilte Ireland estimates that last year these combined celebrations generated €129million for the Irish economy. St Patrick’s Day celebrations help to showcase Ireland as a fantastic tourist destination to people around the world so Fáilte Ireland is also giving a Céad Míle Fáilte – a hundred thousand welcomes - to 39 global print, broadcast and online media with a combined audience reach of 137million that have travelled to Ireland this week to write, film, interview or post about Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day. They will also capture the many unique attractions and visitor experiences across the country that bring our history, heritage and culture to life.  Hosted by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, the international media have travelled from Belgium, USA, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordics. Central to St Patrick’s Day celebrations this year will also be 21 marching bands who have travelled to Ireland to join the festivities. Táimid ag tnúth le hÉirinn a thaispeáint don domhan an Lá Fhéile Pádraig seo. Beannachtaí na féile Pádraig oraibh go léir.

Fáilte Ireland is due to begin work on a new Destination and Experience Development Plan (DEDP) for the Inland Mayo Region during 2025. DEDPs provide a shared vision and clear direction towards strengthening and growing an area’s market share of tourism revenues, enhancing the overall visitor appeal through the provision of targeted investment and support. We invite anyone with an interest in sustainably growing tourism to the Inland Mayo Region to be part of a series of community meetings taking place throughout the area during April 2025. Tourism businesses, community groups, tourism bodies, agencies and volunteers are all welcome to attend and participate in shaping a vision for this unique area of Mayo. See link on the upcoming community meeting schedule in April and details about how to register here: https://lnkd.in/eBH2QgS2

Fáilte Ireland has today launched a new five-year plan that will help drive and sustain tourism in Waterford at an event at Mount Congreve Gardens. The Waterford Coast Destination and Experience Development Plan (DEDP) aims to create a sustainable tourism destination by extending the tourism season and spreading business across all parts of the region over the next five years.   Key stakeholders and industry in the area were consulted and contributed to the plan, including Waterford City & County Council, Waterford Leadership Partnership (CLG), The Waterford Rural Tourism Network, accommodation and hospitality businesses, attractions and activity providers, and festivals and events organisers across the city and county. The plan builds on a number of existing destination development projects that will bring local experiences to life including the development of an attraction of scale in Waterford City, development of an orientation project linking the city and the wider county and the development of tourism networks. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eQKsUQN5 

Nuair nach mbíonn na focail agat as Béarla, bíonn siad ann as Gaeilge. Úsáid cúpla focal nua agus tú ar thuras gearr in Éirinn. To celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge, as part of our #KeepDiscovering campaign we're featuring five directly untranslatable Irish words which capture the feelings and emotions evoked when experiencing Ireland. Remember these words on your next break in Ireland. #SeachtainnaGaeilge #SnaG

Need to upskill but short on time? Our learniFI Live schedule is packed with short interactive workshops designed by experts to help you upskill quickly with the latest tips to boost your business revenue. Upcoming sessions include: Accessible Communications - Tuesday 11th March Delivering an effective paid social campaign for tourism Wednesday - 12th March Perfecting, negotiating and pitching to win B2B opportunities - Thursday 20th March Check out our full schedule: https://lnkd.in/eFTkie6B  

This week Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O'Sullivan, together with Fiona Monaghan, Fáilte Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service were at Connemara National Park to turn the sod on extensive works to upgrade, improve and expand the walking trails in the Park. This exciting new development will open up new parts of Connemara National Park to visitors, providing more areas for exploration and ensuring that the park is accessible and inclusive for everyone. By developing new trails, including an 'all accessible' trail and sensory spur, we are enhancing the visitor experience for people of all abilities. Opening up new areas to explore also aim to help relieve congestion in the area by ensuring the development of tourism in the area is sustainable and delivered in line with the needs of the local community.

This week over 100 Donegal tourism businesses attended the inaugural Donegal Connect event in the Mount Errigal Hotel, in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland, Donegal County Council and Donegal Tourism, with special host broadcaster and journalist Richard Curran. The Donegal Connect event aims to foster meaningful connections among Donegal tourism providers within the county. By encouraging referrals, collaborative partnerships, and the sharing of innovative practices, the event seeks to maximise the visitor experience, promote year-round tourism, and achieve a balanced geographical distribution of visitors across Donegal. This initiative aspires to empower local businesses to work collectively in showcasing Donegal as a premier, inclusive, and sustainable destination for all seasons. Recent Fáilte Ireland research conducted to mark the 10th anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way shows that The Wild Atlantic Way drives €3billion in revenue per year and a key focus for the future will be growing the year-round appeal of the northern half of the tourism route, such as Donegal.

We are proud to be recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women by Great Place to Work® Ireland for the fifth consecutive year ahead of #InternationalWomensDay.     As an organisation, we are committed to creating a positive and supportive workplace for women. It is fantastic to see our commitment formally recognised and we will continue to strive to provide an inclusive work culture for all employees.   #BWWomen25 #IWD2025    The full list of Best Workplaces for Women is available here: https://lnkd.in/e_fKmkeK

Fáilte Ireland has announced that Paul Kelly is to step down as CEO of the National Tourism Development Authority after over 8 years in the role.   Paul joined Fáilte Ireland in 2017, and during his time as CEO has led the organisation through considerable opportunities and challenges. He was instrumental in driving the survival and recovery of the tourism industry post-COVID and has overseen significant investment in and development of tourism across Ireland. Under his leadership, the organisation has completed Ireland’s portfolio of 4 highly successful regional tourism experience brands and has implemented a suite of Regional Development Strategies and Local Visitor Destination Experience Development Plans to cover the whole country. During this time, Fáilte Ireland has invested significantly in transformative visitor attractions, outdoor activity infrastructure and public realm enhancement programmes, as well as an innovative programme of industry transformation initiatives that focus on employee development, sustainability, digitalisation, and most recently accessibility and inclusion, that support the long-term sustainable development of the sector.   Commenting on the announcement, Ruth Andrews, Chairperson of the Fáilte Ireland Authority said: “Paul’s contribution to the success of Fáilte Ireland over the past 8 years has been exceptional. I would like to thank him for his leadership and contribution to the sector, which leaves Fáilte Ireland and the tourism industry in a strong position and well primed for future success. We wish him all the best in his future career endeavours.”   Speaking about his time at Fáilte Ireland, Paul Kelly, said: “It has been a real privilege to serve as CEO of Fáilte Ireland for the last 8 years. I would like to thank our Chairperson Ruth Andrews, former Chairs Paul Carty and Michael Cawley, and past and present members of the Fáilte Ireland Authority, as well as our Ministers, Departmental and Tourism Ireland colleagues, all our partners in other State Bodies, national and local government and the tourism industry for their support during my time as CEO. Most of all I want to thank the team at Fáilte Ireland for their consistent commitment and dedication; I am incredibly proud of how together we have played a pivotal role in transforming how the Irish tourism offering contributes to our visitors, our industry, our communities and our environment.”   The recruitment process to appoint a new CEO of Fáilte Ireland will begin in the coming weeks.