The chair of the Oireachtas Tourism Committee has highlighted the need to protect rural pubs as part of Ireland’s cultural heritage.
Niamh Smyth Fianna Fáil TD. said the Department of Tourism should conduct an audit of rural areas to identify potential candidates for inclusion in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list and the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. She said rural pubs would be better protected as heritage institutions.
She said pubs play a significant role in Ireland’s tourism offering, not only as hospitality establishments but also as cultural attractions. Their cultural value should be recognized and protected. Ms Smyth was speaking at the launch of the report by the Oireachtas Tourism Committee. The report made three key points.
Some tourism business owners express reservations about designating destinations as UNESCO world heritage sites due to concerns over management. They argue that the Office of Public Works (OPW), which focuses on monument preservation, may not be the most suitable entity to manage tourism destinations.
Accommodation strategies for rural areas need to be streamlined. The Tourism Minister is encouraged to collaborate with cabinet colleagues to develop appropriate accommodation strategies for tourism in rural areas. These strategies should aim to balance the needs of local communities with those of visitors.
Changes to planning rules should exempt short term rentals of holiday homes in rural areas and towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants from adhering to stricter regulations, recognising the differences between urban and rural short-term lets. Specific schemes to incentivise accommodation development in rural locations may be introduced on a geo-targeted and time-limited basis to avoid market distortion. The development of modular housing and the increasing interest in camping, caravanning, and non-traditional accommodation options are also noted as trends in the tourism sector. The EU Commission has delayed the Government’s plans to regulate Airbnb, stating that the proposed rules were considered too restrictive. The EU Commission has delayed the Government’s plans to regulate short term rentals such as holiday home rentals, AirBnB and VRBO, stating that the proposed rules were considered too restrictive.
Ireland gets one nomination for the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity each year.
