WILD ATLANTIC WAY ROUTE IDENTIFICATION 1 CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 4 BACKGROUND 8 ROUTE IDENTIFICATION 12 THE ROUTE 16 ROUTE FRAMEWORK 20 INTERPRETATION 26 NEXT STEPS 30 APPENDICES 34 3 INTRODUCTION 4 INISHOWEN 5 INTRODUCTION Where the land meets the sea – sculpted by the wild Atlantic This documnt introducs th Wild Atlanc Wa and dtails th procss and ndings of Stag Two of th projct: Idncaon of th Rout. Th primar objc is to idnf th ‘spin’ i.. th singl rout that will lad th isitor along Irland’s Atlanc coast, xtnding btwn Count Cork in th South Wst and Count Dongal in th North Wst. Th rout will allow trallrs to s and b introducd to man outstanding aspcts of th Atlanc coastlin as an aracon in its own right, and as such its prsntaonon must b of th highst standard. As a long distanc driing rout, th Wild Atlanc Wa will proid th introducon to som of Irland’s most incrdibl xprincs: its coastlin, sascaps, histor, cultur and popl. Th rout will ncourag, nc and inspir trallrs to xplor and ngag with ths aras, making thm agr to journ furthr. Thir spirit of adntur will dri thm to sk nw xprincs as th tral. KINSALE Th primar objc of Fáilt Irland with th Wild OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES Atlanc Wa projct is to dlop a coastal rout of sucint scal and singularit to achi gratr A isibilit for th wst coast of Irland in both domsc and orsas tourism markts. Th targt outcoms of th projct ar to incras isitor numbrs to th B wst of Irland, ncourag mor rpat isits and prsuad isitors to sta for longr and spnd mor C mon. Stakholdr inolmnt is k to th succss of of th projct. Collabora working btwn local authoris, stat agncis, local dlopmnt organisaons, tourism businsss and local communis will nsur that th maximum bnts D for th Wst of Irland ar ralisd and isitors ar proidd with an unforgabl xprinc. As a isitor xprinc th Wild Atlanc Wa is about xprincing whr th land mts th sa and how E th sa has shapd and inuncd what happns on th land. This orarching concpt, which rprsnts th cor proposion from Stag 1 of th projct, proids a strong focus which has hlpd to stablish th following principls: INTRODUCTION 6 PROJECT STAGES Projct Stags On and Two of th Wild Atlanc Wa wr undrtakn simultanousl, ach informing dlopmnt of th othr. Th adhrd to th abo concpt and principls and will togthr b usd to inform subsqunt stags 3 to 5. This documnt summariss th ndings of Stag 2. ItIt2. bgins with an oriw of th projct background, including th tam and procss followd. It summariss th k ndings of th Stag 1 Proposion and Brand Dlopmnt and gis an account of xisng driing routs along th coast. Th mthodolog usd to idnf routs is thn summarisd, as wll as th Rout Framwork whr ach proposd componnt of th Wild Atlanc Wa is xplaind. Following this scon th rout of th Wild Atlanc Wa is prsntd. Th k thms of intrprtaon ar thn outlind, followd b an indicaon of th Nxt Stps with dtaild ndings locatd in th Appndics. 7 BACKGROUND 8 PROJECT PROCESS Project Inception Meeting Review of Background Information Brand Proposition Existing Driving Routes GIS Data Steering Group Meeting x4 Concept and Overarching Principles National Context Mapping International Access Points Route Selection Criteria Steering Group Meeting x4 Regional Context Mapping Independent Travellers Route Coach Route Island Connections 9 Scenic Driving Sections BACKGROUND Discovery Points Route Sections STAGE ONE: IDENTIFY BRAND PROPOSITION AND IDENTITY, Steering Group Meeting x4 AND KEY MARKET SEGMENTS Public Consultation Process Consultation Report Steering Group Meeting x4 Route Masterplan Report A consultanc tam, ld b Collirs Intrnaonal, was Th brand pramid abo illustrats th proposd Th rport concluds that arl markt tsng of th taskd to dlop a brand proposion for th Wild brand and alu proposions for th Wild Atlanc Wild Atlanc Wa brand proposion shows a strong Atlanc Wa. Th principal aim of this pic of work Wa as idnd in th Collirs rport. Th pramid intrst and appt from Irland’s main sourc was to succinctl stablish what th Wild Atlanc idns that th ‘wildnss’ of th product is th markts, i.. th UK, Franc, Grman and th USA Wa brand is oring, to whom it is targng, in what ssnc of th brand whil th cor proposion is th with signicant opportunis to brak into mrging formats it is proidd and whr and how to accss mng of th wild Atlanc with th coastlin and markts such as China, India, Brazil and Russia. ThTh it.it. th landscaps which it has inuncd. Furthrmor rport also concluds that a “on siz ts all” packag Collirs idnd that th histor, hritag and cultur of branding and markng will not b appropriat as Th tabl abo summariss th product brand of th of th placs and popl along th Wild Atlanc Wa is targt markts ha diring intrsts ranging from Wild Atlanc Wa as idnd b th consultants in its uniqu slling point with nowhr ls in th world passi intrsts such as gntl walking and sa and thir rport, “Wild Atlanc Wa: Brand Proposion”. quit lik it. wildlif watching to th mor ac intrsts such as climbing, surng and mountain biking. Th brand proposion, thrfor, has a piotal rol to pla in capturing th aring intrsts of th dirnt targt markts. STAGE TWO: ROUTE IDENTIFICATION COASTAL STUDY Spcialist consultants from Th Paul Hogarth Compan undrtook an xtnsi stud of Irland’s wst coast, xploring, mapping and photographing its man dirs routs, aracons and slmnts. This procss was augmntd b a Gographic Informaon Sstm (GIS) mapping xrcis to locat all tourism rlatd businsss and facilis throughout th stud ara. This was basd upon Fáilt Irland’s Tourism Contnt Sstm as wll as comprhnsi datasts, which wr mad aailabl b th nin Count Councils situatd along th wst coast of Irland. This mapping xrcis proidd a clar undrstanding on th locaon and concntraons of tourism rlatd srics throughout th stud ara, including informaon on transport hubs, accommodaon proidrs, aracons and acit proidrs, and blu 10 ag bachs. BACKGROUND REVIEW OF EXISTING DRIVING ROUTES Thr ar a numbr of xisng dri touring routs Th qualit of informaon cord within spcic wb coring parts of th Wild Atlanc Wa, although pags is r ariabl. Som ha maps, othrs ha man also tak in inland sights and scnr as part of txt dscripons of th rout with aring dgrs th rout. Indiidual routs rang from th immnsl of as of following. A fw gi dtails of isitor popular Ring of Krr, originall marktd in th arl aracons n rout with appropriat wb links or 1900s b a hors-drawn coach compan as ‘Grand dscripons of th slmnts and scnr that th Atlanc Tours’, to local communit inias such as routs pass through whras othrs gi such lil th Connmara Loop. informaon othr than plac nams that fw isitors would b moatd to add th xprinc to thir From a isitor’s point of iw, howr, idnfing a wish list. list of routs to assist in holida planning is dicult. Indiidual routs ma b prold in popular guids Thr is no comprhnsi wbsit ddicatd to lik Frohmr’s or th Rough Guid but ar not indxd driing tour routs in Irland. undr th gnric hading of dri routs. Sarching th wb idns a mix of sits. Th includ trallr’s’s With th xcpon of DiscorIrland.i and Irland. xprincs cord b sits lik TripAdisor, guids to com, th top rankd wbsits ar commrcial or driing in Irland (AA), and slf-dri car hir and tour mainstram sits lik Wikipdia and Tripadisor. Local oprators as wll as som naonal or rgional tourism or public sctor sits ar mor dicult to nd. sits. Appndix (1) gis a dtaild riw of informaon Thr is a lack of consistnc of catgorisaon among about spcic driing routs, walking and ccling A priorit for th Wild Atlanc Wa brand, whthr it has dirnt hadings from ‘touring routs’ to ‘scnic routs. a ddicatd wbsit or on linkd to DiscorIrland. dris’ n within th Discor Irland wbsit. i or Irland.com, will b to nsur that contnt is wll indxd in trms of potnal sarch stratgis. Fw sits gi an indicaon of distanc and arag dri m and most rl on a Googl map if at all. Us of road numbrs is sporadic and lls of contnt ar r ariabl. 11 ROUTE IDENTIFICATION 12 OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES OF THE ROUTE SPINE Th rout of th Wild Atlanc Wa should: • proid an unbrokn link for motorists from • b naigabl from nd-to-nd, but quall njod Count Cork to Count Dongal; in scons; • nsur that th orall brand proposion is nott • ha a rang of placs to stop along it, from th dilutd b th incorporaon of othr naonal and globall rcognisd to th locall intrsng, rgional assts which do not ha rsonanc with appropriatl distributd to nsur that th rout th wild Atlanc; rmains ngaging or its lngth, no mar whr somon joins or las it; • b naigabl in its nrt b cars, motor homs, biccls and motorbiks; • proid an introducon to th ara around it,it, ncouraging popl to spnd m in and xplor • b naigabl in ttin h main b buss and coachs; a spcic ara in mor dtail; • b asil accssibl locall, rgionall and • proid opportunis for popl to isit naonall; spcic aracons, us th full spctrum of accommodaon, at, shop and njo cultural xprincs.