COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to present a report on efforts to promote Tourism here in our County and will he make a general statement in the matter.

REPLY:

Grow Dublin, launched in 2014, involved a complete rethink and re-orientation of the Dublin Tourism Product. The re-brand of Dublin as a tourism destination: Dublin: Surprising By Nature fits well with SDCC’s Tourism brand Dublin’s Outdoors. This positioning offers an opportunity for our County leading with our mountains, rivers and other attractions in nearby areas, in order to maximise benefits for all areas.

Over the period of the Tourism Strategy the Council has developed a number of facilities such as the Round Tower Visitor Centre and improvements to Tallaght Stadium whilst offering support to service providers and event organisers through the annual Tourism Event and Festival Grant to improve the offering to the visitor to our county. Additional work has been undertaken to develop other visitor assets in the county including the Rathfarnham Stables and Courtyard, Dodder and Grand Canal Greenway projects, a Heritage Trail mobile app, Lucan Destination Town application and the Dublin Mountain Visitor Centre. Grant funding has been secured for some of these projects. In terms of planning for the future, it is a core objective of the Tallaght LAP to maintain and facilitate links within and links between the Town Centre and adjoining areas including Sean Walsh Park and the Dublin Mountain Way. It is also an objective of the LAP to support the development of a sustainable tourism industry for Tallaght that maximises the recreational and tourism potential of the County. The delivery of this objective is managed by the Public Realm and Tourism Departments.

The Council continues to promote what we have through the County Promotion Unit by forging strong relationships with Fáilte Ireland and local tourism service providers, and recently represented the county at two Holiday World Shows in Limerick and the RDS. These events helped generate further leads which are currently being explored. The tourism offering in South Dublin County is promoted though traditional print (e.g. Round Tower brochures in 130 hotel and visitor venues in Dublin, adverts in national magazines, etc), outdoor advertising (e.g. bus shelters) as well as via active social media channels.

Launched in 2018, the now Annual Tourism Event and Festival funding programme is aimed at organisations and organisers who plan to hold a public festival or event within South Dublin County Council’s administrative area. The aim is to fund innovative events/festivals that are supported by local businesses and communities which will add value to the county’s tourism product. The maximum grant available is €7,500.00 and is paid in relation to the number of spectators visiting South Dublin from outside of county and overseas. Key priority areas such as cultural, food, sports and activity based tourism aimed at growing the visitor economy are included in the grant offering. The Council’s tourism brand Dublin’s Outdoors is well represented at these events.

The Round Tower Visitor Centre has been recommended for inclusion in Fáilte Ireland’s buyers guide for 2020 – this provides exposure for overseas tour operators at Meitheal and other trade shows overseas. A brain storming exercise recently took place with relevant stakeholders to explore the development of packaged offerings to attract tour bus visitors to the county, and the Council have put steps in place to re-establish a service provider forum to help cross promote tourism and the tourism offering in South Dublin County.