- In 2017 Limerick had:
- 931,000 visitors – almost 70pc from overseas
- Total spend locally of €307m.
- Domestic visitor numbers to Limerick rose by 34pc, the largest percentage increase in the country.
Limerick aims to attract 1.1m tourists a year, generating €360m in revenue and creating 1,500 jobs by 2023.
The aims are part of the Limerick Tourism Development Strategy 2019 – 2023, which has identified the city and county’s position on the west coast and as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way as central to developing the sector.
The strategy aims to develop new tourist experiences in the city and county and highlight the area as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way. It identifies four broad areas that are central to developing the sector – Waterways, Activities, Heritage and Arts & Culture.
Gabi Fogarty and Mirriam Frawley pictured at City Hall Limerick today as Limerick launched the new Tourism Strategy
Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr James Collins said: “The figures show that tourism is an important industry for Limerick and this new strategy is a roadmap to develop the tourist offering across the city and county, creating jobs in various parts of rural and urban Limerick.
“Other counties have demonstrated the power of tourism and here in Limerick we have a unique location as a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way and some unique products that we can develop to capitalise on this demand.”
Patrick O’Donovan, Junior Minister at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure, said: “This strategy is important as it links in with other local authorities strategies around the country. It provides Limerick City and County Council with a map for the development of tourism. This will allow for the drawdown of government investment through the various grants schemes.”
“It’s particularly important for rural County Limerick because we’ve seen over the last number of years that tourism across the country has played a massive role in regional Ireland. And you can see the development of tourism across County Limerick with the development of new hotels, refurbishment of established hotels, the development of existing and new visitor attractions all collectively providing employment, and it’s great we need to work on this as these are jobs that can be sustained for many years to come.”
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