Fingal Tourism Strategy 2015-2018
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Fingal Tourism Strategy 2015 – 2018 .ie .ie fingal Contents 1. WHY A TOURISM STRATEGY? ................................................................... 4 1.1 Fingal’s Tourism Economy .................................................................. 4 1.2 A Strategy for the Future ...................................................................... 5 1.3 Context 6 1.4 The Opportunity .................................................................................... 6 2. WHAT FINGAL HAS TO OFFER .................................................................. 8 2.1 Why Visit Fingal – Key Appeals and Attractors ................................. 8 2.2 Marketing and Visitor Information Services ....................................... 9 2.3 The Challenges – SWOT ..................................................................... 11 3. VISION, GOALS AND CONTESTABLE MARKETS ................................... 12 3.1 The Vision ............................................................................................ 12 3.2 Key Strategic Goal .............................................................................. 14 3.3 The Contestable Market Opportunities for Fingal ............................ 14 4. MAKING IT HAPPEN .................................................................................. 16 4.1 Optimise and expand existing visitor experiences .......................... 16 4.2 Heritage Attractors ............................................................................. 22 4.3 Joint marketing campaign for council heritage properties ............. 26 4.4 Festivals and Events .......................................................................... 31 4.5 Food Tourism ...................................................................................... 33 4.6 Business Tourism ............................................................................... 34 4.7 Sport Tourism ..................................................................................... 35 4.8 Shopping ............................................................................................. 36 5. A NEW PLACE MARKETING STRATEGY ALIGNED WITH AND LEVERAGING THE GROW DUBLIN TOURISM ALLIANCE ................................... 38 5.1 Destination Dublin – A Collective Strategy for Tourism Growth to 2020 38 5.2 Positioning Fingal in the Grow Dublin Tourism Alliance brand ..... 38 5.3 Digital Marketing – Social, Platforms, Emerging Technologies ..... 39 1 | P a g e 5.4 Marketing plan .................................................................................... 40 5.5 Visitor information .............................................................................. 46 5.6 Film Location as a Tourism Marketing Tool ..................................... 46 6. DEVELOP A NEW WAY OF WORKING ..................................................... 46 6.1 Collaboration with Industry and Community Partners .................... 47 6.2 Organisation Structures Fit for Purpose .......................................... 48 6.3 Enterprise Support ............................................................................. 51 6.4 Collaboration with Adjoining Counties ............................................. 52 7. MONITORING PROGRESS ........................................................................ 53 7.1 Performance metrics .......................................................................... 53 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... 55 Appendix A: Terms of Reference, approach and acknowledgements . 55 Appendix B: List of consultations........................................................... 58 Appendix C: Stakeholder survey – top line results ............................... 60 Appendix D: Tourism to Dublin ............................................................... 75 Appendix E: Fulfilling the Requirements of the Habitats Directive……77 The information and documentation contained herein is of a confidential nature and is supplied to Fingal County Council for its exclusive use. Please note that every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this report is both comprehensive and accurate. However, the report and the content contained herein are intended to only serve as a point of reference. While all care and diligence has been exercised in the preparation of this report, the authors assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions. This report is based on the conditions encountered and information reviewed at the time of preparation. No responsibility is accepted for use of any part of this report in any other context or for any other purpose or by third parties. TTC-Tourism & Transport Consult International cannot be held responsible for investment or commercial decisions taken on the basis of the content of this report. 2 | P a g e 3 | P a g e 1.1.1. Why a Tourism Strategy? 1.11.11.1 Fingal’s Tourism Economy Worth €500m annually Tourism is an important indigenous sector of the Fingal local economy generating income and employment. Tourism, alongside the agri-food sector and other service industries, is widely expected to be a driver of economic growth. Fingal’s tourism is heavily dependent on day trip visitors, particularly to coastal locations, heritage attractions or for the pursuit of a special interest, together with stay over visits, largely concentrated around Dublin Airport. Up to 800 businesses, of which 60% are in food and beverage, provide accommodation and catering for visitors to Fingal 1. The industry is characterised by large numbers of SMEs and an estimated 3,000 full time job equivalents are provided within the guest accommodation sector in Fingal, with a further 2,000 employed in the catering sector across the County. Visitors to the area support jobs in transport, retail, entertainment and other service sectors used by the local population. Visitor expenditure in Fingal from both staying tourists and day trippers sustains several hundred businesses and jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. Up to half a billion euro per year is spent by visitors to Fingal 2. This in turn supports an estimated one in four jobs in Fingal, or approximately 20,000 jobs. Unemployment, while reducing in recent years, is currently running at 8.2% and an expanding tourism industry has the potential to address this surplus labour pool in Fingal. Employment in the sector has increased in recent years with one in three businesses reporting an increase in the numbers employed. Dublin Airport is a key driver of economic growth and tourism development in Fingal, as the airport’s infrastructure supports economic development and job creation. Dublin Airport is the largest employer in the region. It is estimated for every one job created in the airport, three to four are created in the region as a direct result 3. The primary source markets for visits to Fingal are currently the Irish domestic market and Northern Ireland, with the majority of businesses reliant on these markets as the top source of demand. However, for about one in four businesses an overseas source 1 CSO MSI. 2 Estimate based on 10% to 12% of Dublin tourism revenue – domestic + overseas. 3 DAA 4 | P a g e market is the top producer of business, with Britain and North America tending to be more important than mainland Europe and other long haul markets. Fig. 101: Ranking by business of importance of visitor source markets [1 --- Most important ––– 6 --- Least important] Source: Survey of business stakeholders, October 2014 1.21.21.2 A Strategy for the Future Fingal County Council’s intent in developing a tourism strategy for the County was to provide the ‘definitive pathway to tourism development in Fingal’. The objective was to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development of tourism with support and buy-in of relevant public, private and community tourism stakeholders. Fingal County Development Plan 2011-2017 identified the potential for tourism to Fingal, as well as placing a strong emphasis on the protection of the County’s environmental, heritage and cultural assets. Core Objective ….focus on tourism potential as a driver of economic development to deliver income, business enterprises & jobs 5 | P a g e 1.31.31.3 Context Ireland’s Tourism returns to growth 2014 was the best year for the sector since 2008, with international arrivals reaching 7.3 million visitors, spending an estimated €3.5 billion in the country. Domestic tourism generated a further €1 billion. The growth in tourism demand is estimated to have created 5,000 new jobs in 2014, with a further 8,000 forecast for 2015. The outlook for the sector is buoyant with growth in overseas demand forecast to average +5% per annum over the short to medium term, with the improving economic situation at home driving further recovery in demand for domestic travel. A new focus on the Dublin Region as a major tourism destination The Dublin Region is currently the focus of a major new initiative to drive Dublin to a position as one of Europe’s top city destinations. In recent years, Dublin has been winning share of the overseas and domestic markets, with increasing numbers of overseas leisure tourists choosing the Dublin region for their visit to Ireland. The Grow Dublin Tourism Alliance has been established to drive a new collaborative strategy to market the Dublin region in the international marketplace. A new national tourism policy The new policy, approved by Government in January