Innovative steps towards sustainable tourism explored at Mayo event
AS part of Mayo Ideas Month, Údarás na Gaeltachta and South West Mayo Development Company co-hosted a hugely successful event promoting sustainability in tourism.
Entitled ‘Mapping the Future: Innovative Steps Toward Sustainable Tourism’, it took place in Tourmakeady Community Centre where a large crowd gained valuable insights around funding for green investments through the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Mayo and SEAI, as well as learning about dark sky tourism opportunities, and the ambitious plans for the Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark to become the fourth UNECSO Global Geopark in Ireland.
Speaking at the event, Sean O Coisdealbha, regional manager of Udaras na Gaeltachta, said: “I am appreciative of all the speakers that highlighted the opportunities associated with sustainable tourism and the potential for dark sky tourism and hope that the companies in attendance can bring the knowledge and the benefits to their own business.”
Derek Hannick, Lean Green Management Solutions, set the scene for the important of protecting our local environment from an environmental and economic perspective. He went on to provide details of several funding programmes available to businesses to improve their sustainability and reduce costs.
County Mayo is home to two Dark Skies initiatives, Mayo Dark Sky Park (Wild Nephin) and Glow 2.0. (Údarás na Gaeltachta and WestBic). Georgia McMillan, Mayo Dark Sky Park development officer, and Martina Uí Dholáín from GLOW 2.0 explained the concepts of dark skies tourism and the impact of light pollution on our precious dark sky asset.
Michael Lennon, managing director of the Westport Woods Hotel, and a lifelong champion of sustainability in tourism, highlighted the need for baseline metrics to assess the benefits of investment in key departments such as energy, waste and water.
Kieran Flynn, project manager of the Lough Carra LIFE project, showcased the importance of Lough Carra and its flora and fauna, some of which are best in class from a national and European perspective.
Mícheál Mac Donnchadha, EmpowerUs project officer with Údarás na Gaeltachta, introduced this highly innovative EU project, which aims to encourage economic and social entrepreneurship in coastal communities along the west coast of Ireland.
The morning also included a presentation by Alastair McDermott, marketing coach and consultant, on the digitalisation of tourism using artificial intelligence (AI). Those in attendance were hugely impressed by the potential for AI to support tourism businesses and social enterprises, a tool for the future.
The last word of the day came from Fionnán Nestor, Fáilte Ireland projects officer, who highlighted some excellent supports available to business on the Fáilte Ireland website such as the carbon calculator. He encouraged interested businesses and social enterprises involved in tourism to use these valuable tools as they start their sustainability journey.
The event was very well received with networking and information sharing happening throughout the day. As one attendee commented, “This event isn't just about understanding sustainable tourism: it's about taking actionable steps towards implementing these practices,” reflecting the general readiness for change among the attendees.
The message was clear: sustainable tourism is not an abstract idea, but the future of tourism in Ireland.
This was just one of a series of business events during Mayo Ideas Month hosted by the business support and enterprise agencies within the county.