More than a quarter of a million euro is to be spent upgrading 35 Wild Atlantic Way points in Mayo.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, said today €257,000 will be spent on remedial works, branding and interpretation material at the 'Discovery' and 'Embarkation' points on the Mayo section of the route this year.
The Wild Atlantic Way, launched last March, is a 2,500 km touring route stretching along the Atlantic coastline from Donegal to Cork and it is being marketed heavily by the tourism agencies as one of Ireland's best offerings.
“This branding and interpretation phase will start to tell the stories of the Wild Atlantic Way for visitors to encourage a more meaningful engagement,” said Minister Ring of the planned works in 2015.
Minister Ring added that 2014 was a great year for tourism.
“There were a total of 7,604,400 overseas visits to Ireland in 2014. Growth was seen from all our main markets with an additional 618,500 (+ 8.9 per cent ) visits from around the world, compared to 2013.
“Visits from North America increased by 14.7 per cent, Great Britain by 8 per cent, Mainland Europe grew by 7.1 per cent and long-haul and developing markets saw an increase of 8.7 per cent.”
“These visitor numbers reflect the fact that Ireland as a destination is continuing to improve and become more attractive for overseas visitors. I am very confident that 2015 will be even better,” concluded Mr Ring.
