Telling the story of your town and turning it into a compelling historic place of interest can encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more. This insight comes as Fáilte Ireland’s new' Historic Towns in Ireland Guidelines are launched today.

Through case studies and international examples, these new guidelines provide towns with a DIY kit of simple steps which can enable towns to influence their visitors’ experience including improving ease of access, visual impressions, human interaction and the range and quality of places to stay and things to do and see, such as providing a good selection of festivals, events and markets throughout the year.

Ireland’s historic towns are of huge interest with almost one in five overseas visitors citing interesting history and culture as their reason for choosing Ireland as a destination. Such visitors contribute 54% to total overseas tourism revenue. Furthermore, a 2007 UNESCO study identified cultural and natural tourism as one of the more rapidly growing international sectors of the tourism industry accounting for 40% of international tourism.

To date, Fáilte Ireland has invested €2.5m in the development and enhancement of Historic Towns in Ireland and these guidelines are another step in developing Ireland as a destination with a unique cultural character and ‘sense of place’ that maximises its appeal to the lucrative culture and heritage seekers market. To date, 44towns have been approved for funding under this initiative.


Mary King of Fáilte Ireland’s policy and futures division said: 'While familiarity may not breed contempt, it certainly can breed complacency. Many towns in Ireland

may not realise the wealth of their town’s historical attractions, and how much it is worth to them from a tourism perspective.'