East Cork businesses welcome Fáilte Ireland's five-year tourism plan 

A new five year plan recently launched by Fáilte Ireland, which aims to develop Cork city, harbour and East Cork further as a tourist destination, has been welcomed by East Cork business owners and representatives.

The report identifies several challenges such as “low levels of awareness of East Cork as a key tourism destination despite [the] existence of large attractions”, identifies that more tourist accommodation is required, and that ancillary services such as restaurants “are limited in supply in areas identified as having growth potential such as Cobh”.

Toddy Stafford, of Cobh Chamber, told The Echo that he was at the launch of the plan himself and would welcome the plan, but agreed, “There certainly is accommodation shortages particularly in Cobh, we would love to see further development there.”

He acknowledged the challenges facing the hospitality industry, particularly outside of peak tourism season, but said, “it is seasonal – but the season is expanding.

“On the ground in Cobh we’ve seen footfall increasing all the time, the amount of people coming to Cobh in January, February and March is always growing,” he said, adding “Nobody is coming to Ireland for the weather anyway!”

Mr Stafford said: “a lot of potential is totally untapped,” saying that public water access for boats and yachts, and connectivity from Cobh out to Crosshaven and Fota by water taxi were areas he would love to see developed.

Fianna Fáil councillor for Cobh Dominic Finn agreed, saying: “We have the second largest natural harbour in the world, and we have great attractions like Spike Island, Cobh Heritage Centre, Jameson Distillery - but there’s a lot more to do in of investment.

“Cobh needs a lot more places for people to stay, and more restaurants – we should be doing everything we can to our local food businesses outside of tourist season.

“People in Cobh go to Midleton or to town for dinner, we should be inviting people to come to Cobh!”

Mr Finn added that the Port of Cork has “invested massively” in Cork Harbour with more than 100 cruise ships docking there this year, but said: “The sad thing is, we see buses taking people out of Cork, down to Killarney for the day – I’d love them to spend a bit more time in the area.”

Mr Finn continued: “I’ve been successful in getting the old Mercy Nuns convent in Cobh Convent Chapel opened up as a venue we could use to put on shows and concerts, we’d also love to have our own theatre in the town.

“That will all tie into the tourism scene, but of course if we can get people to come for the weekend, we need to make sure they’ve somewhere to stay.”

Elaine O’Halloran, the sales and marketing director of Castlemartyr Resort, also attended the launch, and said the five year plan was “incredibly well presented” and “very exciting for East Cork.”

“We were delighted to see the focus on gastronomy and ambition to have Cork identified as a world gastronomical destination by 2030, and we have the infrastructure in place.

“Our restaurant won its second Michelin star in January after being opened just two years, and our hotel just recently won a Michelin key also,” she said, adding that there were many other great destinations such as Ballymaloe House and Cookery School, Midleton Distillery, Belvelly Smokehouse, and Ballycotton Seafood on their doorstep.

“It’s wonderful to see East Cork as part of this plan alongside the wider Cork city and harbour area, and the slogan ‘from the Lee to the sea’ is so clever – it’s going to identify with every Cork person.”

She added that the completion of the events centre in the city would be a great addition, saying: “I’ve worked in other locations where I’ve seen the economic benefit an events centre can bring to an area, so we would love to see further work on that.”