Gallery: Donegal tourism community gathers on 10th year of the Wild Atlantic Way

Over a hundred Donegal tourism businesses attended a special Fáilte Ireland networking event in Harvey’s Point this week.

The event was organised by Fáilte Ireland to build collaboration across the tourism industry in the county, encouraging businesses to collaborate and cross-sell to attract visitors and inspire them to explore the county and all it has to offer.

Face-to-face networking sessions with 420 appointments were facilitated among accommodation providers, visitor attractions, visitor activities and golf providers to provide them with the opportunity to forge new connections and renew old ones.

Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way team provided the attendees with an update on future initiatives while Nicholas Hall, Tourism Digital Think Tank was the guest speaker and outlined the key digital tourism trends for 2024.

Speaking at the event, Joan Crawford, Wild Atlantic Way Manager with Fáilte Ireland, commented: “We’re really pleased that so many Donegal tourism businesses joined us for this networking event. There has been so many new additions and updates to the tourism offering in Donegal, it was important to come together this week and identify opportunities for cross-selling and collaboration to encourage visitors to explore further across the region, stay longer and spend more.”

The Wild Atlantic Way, the hugely successful tourism brand developed by Fáilte Ireland, was launched in 2014, and over the last decade has become an internationally recognised tourism route and has provided an economic engine for the west of Ireland.

Ms Crawford said: “Our recent research conducted to mark the 10th anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way shows that The Wild Atlantic Way drives €3 billion in revenue per year and a key focus for the future will be growing the year-round appeal of the northern half of the tourism route.”

Pat Doherty, Doagh Famine Village said: “Donegal has so much to offer the visitor. We are well-known for our beautiful scenery, but we also have a great variety of activities and attractions for the visitor to enjoy. The Failte Ireland Networking Event gives us the opportunity to showcase our product and connect with other businesses in the county. By working together, we can position Donegal as a great place to come and visit”.