Fáilte Ireland has unveiled its ambitious plans to drive sustainable tourism development across Ireland in 2025, at its annual industry briefing this week.
The event was opened by the newly appointed Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, and watched online by over 2,000 tourism operators, providers and employers from across the sector.
The key features of the plan include supporting the sustainable and authentic development of year-round destinations throughout Ireland, highlighting the diverse tourism offerings across the country to boost domestic travel, and new plans to strengthen the business tourism sector.
Additionally, the National Tourism Development Authority has invested over €14.5 million in 11 new tourism projects, set to be completed across the country this year.
Fáilte Ireland will continue supporting key festivals across the year, including New Year’s Festival Dublin, St Patrick’s Festival Dublin, six regional St Patrick’s Day festivals, and Púca, in Co. Meath.
In addition, Fáilte Ireland will invest €600,000 in a programme of events across various regions of Ireland that will establish the month of October as a time to visit Ireland and experience the authentic ‘Home of Halloween’.
“In line with our new Programme for Government, these robust plans look to create a balanced regional spread of tourism, develop long-term, sustainable, well-paid careers in the industry, enhance our tourism infrastructure, and support the sustainable growth of this sector,” said Burke.
“I look forward to working with my department, Fáilte Ireland, and the wider tourism industry over the coming years to champion tourism and support the sustainable development of the sector for the benefit of our economy, our communities, our industry, and our visitors.”
Fáilte Ireland’s plans for 2025 focus on helping businesses grow revenue as they continue to face cost pressures. This will be done through business supports focused on four strategic areas (climate, digitisation, people and performance, and commercial resilience), a full programme of sales opportunities, and the continued roll-out of a business tourism strategy to attract more business events to Ireland.
There is also a programme of domestic marketing activity planned, aimed at spreading visitors across the regions beyond the busy summer months.
As part of the online session, Fáilte Ireland shared its latest research on the tourism industry’s performance in 2024, as well as its expectations for 2025. The outlook for the year ahead was positive among respondents, with 39% of businesses expecting their visitor levels to be up in 2025, and 42% expecting volumes to remain the same as they were last year.
However, cost pressures continue to dominate concerns, especially ‘energy’ (cited by 57%) and ‘payroll’ (56%).
During the briefing, the National Tourism Development Authority welcomed the 7.6% increase in tourism beds available due to the cessation of government contracts and the opening of new accommodation capacity as positive for tourism.
“Our investments in capital projects, marketing and festivals across the country will drive visitors directly to destinations and into businesses,” said Paul Kelly, Fáilte Ireland’s CEO.
“Additionally, our comprehensive range of support measures will be tailored to help the industry address its most pressing challenges.”
