Westport anger with Failte Ireland’s attitude to local tourism office
Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Sport Jack Chambers and Senator Lisa Chambers were guest speakers at the first annual general meeting of the Westport Tourist Organisation since 2019.
In his chairman’s address at the Westport Woods Hotel, Donal O’Shea mentioned the town map they’ve had for many years and that, in recent time, they have introduced a walking map that is in every B&B and hotel in the town and on it now is a QR code that people can scan onto their phone to view.
He reminded people of the brochure which has activities for tourist whether it is leisure, adventure or history.
The chairman added that every four years, a survey is conducted by Fr. Micheál MacGréil which asked hoteliers, B&Bs, shops and the tourists themselves what tourism in Westport needs.
A copy of the survey was presented to Minister Jack Chambers.
One of the things the tourism committee picked up a number of years ago in their research was that a major thing missing from Westport was a marina.
In the last year, they had a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue which gave great hope.
The chairman went on to thank the Marine sub-committee for their help and they hope to make a presentation in the near future.
Mr. O'Shea went on to express his disappointment with the attitude of Fáilte Ireland that there is no tourism office all year round in Westport.
Fáilte Ireland said there wasn't enough footfall into the office but the chairman added that the whole idea of tourism should be all-year round and hoped to ensure that it would be the case going forward of an office open all year round.
Senator Lisa Chambers she knows how much the WTO has worked and acknowledged the Westport councillors Peter Flynn, Christy Hyland and Brendan Mulroy for their efforts.
Senator Chambers said it was great to have Minister McConalogue visit and see what they thought was achievable with a marina. It would create not just additional tourism in Westport, but a spillover effect into places like Achill, Louisburgh and Castlebar.
“I will work with you as best I can for that dream,” said the senator.
Minister Jack Chambers was then introduced and he and spoke about his family history in Mayo, with his father from Newport and mother from Hollymount.
The minister had strong memories of Westport growing up and he said Mayo has a huge offering for tourism in Ireland and overseas, citing it's rich cultural heritage.
The minister added that integral to the success of Westport is the shared collaboration from public representatives to shops, pubs, hotels and B&Bs and over the last two years, Mayo has responded well with tourism despite the challenges of Covid.
The meeting opened to the floor and among the topic raised included were the Clew Bay Loop, new signage on the green for cyclists, capital investment for Westport and accommodation required for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in Europe.