Fáilte Ireland announces ambitious 2025 plans for Wild Atlantic Way
OVER 1,000 tourism industry operators, providers and employers from across the Wild Atlantic Way, including Mayo, tuned into a special online briefing from Fáilte Ireland this week which outlined the plans and priorities for the region in 2025.
A robust programme of initiatives is at the heart of these plans, designed to support tourism businesses across the Wild Atlantic Way region in driving revenue and maintaining competitiveness, ensuring the continued growth and sustainability of its tourism industry.
Key priorities in 2025 will focus on developing and opening new and enhanced capital projects, the continued sustainable development of the region, protecting and enhancing the uniqueness of the Wild Atlantic Way and delivering a robust range of practical supports to help tourism businesses tackle some of the immediate challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
Key initiatives announced include six new capital projects across the Wild Atlantic Way which are set to open in 2025, as follows:-
Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór, Galway: Redevelopment of the visitor centre to focus on climate change and ancient inhabitants, with satellite interpretation hubs.
Carrowmore, Co. Sligo: New immersive exhibition linking to the Céide Fields, positioning Carrowmore as a Neolithic exploration hub.
New Farm Trail, Connemara National Park: Opening a previously inaccessible part of the park to alleviate pressure on existing trails.
Bray Head Signature Discovery Point, Co. Kerry: Transformed Signal Tower with a new viewing platform offering views of the Skelligs.
Outdoor water sports facilities: Four water sports facilities due be completed in 2025, one located at Fenit in Co. Kerry. Overall, 12 of these facilities are due to be delivered along the Wild Atlantic Way in the coming years.
Other major projects include the transformation of Westport House Estate and Galway Museum by 2027, and the redevelopment of Fort Dunree by 2028.
All capital investment projects adhere to best practice sustainability measures, with ongoing environmental monitoring to mitigate impacts on sensitive sites.
Continued Sustainable Destination Development
Recognising the unique opportunities and challenges across the Wild Atlantic Way, Fáilte Ireland’s 2025 plans focus on tailored approaches for the northern and southern halves of the route to ensure greater regional and seasonal dispersal of visitors.
From Connemara to Donegal, Fáilte Ireland’s 2025 plans focus on increasing international visitor profiles and revenue. Investments in iconic attractions and collaborations with Tourism Northern Ireland under the Shared Island Scheme will help to encourage visitors to explore the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route as a unified experience.
From Galway City to Kinsale, the focus is extending the tourism season, dispersing visitors more evenly, and maintaining competitiveness through enhancing existing experiences, investments in all-weather attractions, and strong visitor management plans.
Currently, there are 15 Destination and Experience Plans (DEDPs) across the Wild Atlantic Way. Led by Fáilte Ireland, these plans outline actions agreed upon by local tourism industry and community stakeholders to ensure each destination reaches its full tourism potential.
Central to Fáilte Ireland’s 2025 plans for the Wild Atlantic Way is a dedication to protecting the cultural authenticity and wildness of the west coast.
Its strategic partnership with Údarás na Gaeltachta will also see over €4 million investment for Gaeltacht island communities across two new visitor centres on Inis Mór and Cape Clear.
Additionally, the partnership will continue the roll-out of its Gaeilge agus Fáilte programme which in its first year has helped 24 tourism businesses incorporate the Irish language into their tourism experiences.
Speaking about the plans, Miriam Kennedy, Head of the Wild Atlantic Way at Fáilte Ireland, said: "In 10 years, the Wild Atlantic Way has become a cornerstone of Irish tourism, contributing over €3 billion annually and supporting 121,000 jobs. Building on this momentum, Fáilte Ireland's ambition is to position the Wild Atlantic Way among the top five touring routes globally by 2033.
“To help achieve this in a sustainable manner, our plans include a range of capital investment projects to create new iconic attractions, enhance existing experiences and continue focusing on initiatives and programmes that showcase, celebrate and safeguard the wildness and cultural authenticity of our west coast and its communities.”