Project aims to build tourism clusters

More than 100 entrepreneurs from England, Wales, Holland, Belgium, and Ireland are visiting EU-funded businesses in south Kerry.

They are building up contacts with local businesses, from B&Bs offering cycling packages to hotels with equestrian facilities, as part of a €10.6m Collabor8 project.

The aim of the project is to build clusters of businesses involved in areas such as local food, cultural activities and hospitality.

Minister of State for the Environment Jan O’Sullivan, addressing 160 delegates at a conference in Killarney yesterday, said it was important to provide visitors to the partner area, with a unique “sense of place” experience they could not get in other areas.

This could be delivered through using all the elements available in the regions, such as food, landscape, culture/heritage, people, and a range of activities abundantly available in south Kerry, she said.

Ms O’Sullivan said a key focus of the project was to create sustainable businesses.

An online book engine for angling in Kerry, involving South Kerry Development Partnership, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, and Kerry County Council, will be launched at the three-day gathering.

Walking is another activity being developed, with several trails being opened in Kerry.

Ireland South MEP Sean Kelly told delegates water sports tourism had potential to attract people to small coastal areas.

He also said EU tourism policy had to be about giving a platform to cultural tourism, folklore, song, dance, local cuisine, and historical sites.

“We need to return to the idea of what is local,” he said. “Local tourism based on the rich patchwork of cultures, traditions and rural activities in Europe is not only less seasonal but, is by its nature, more sustainable.”