Fáilte Ireland has announced that Mayo's Ceide Coast, Scattery Island in Clare and The Norman Way in Wexford have been selected as the three Irish finalists for this year’s European Destination of Excellence Network (EDEN) competition.
The theme of this year's competition is “Tangible Cultural Tourism”, and the Irish winner will be recognised as the destination in Ireland that has best used its local tangible cultural assets to grow visitor numbers.
The above three finalists are now preparing for on-site assessments during the week of Monday September 4, when they will be visited by a panel of expert adjudicators. Tangible cultural assets can include traditional historical or archaeological monuments/sites, industrial areas, museums, theatres, galleries, contemporary architectural developments and modern urban districts.
The winning destination will receive a certificate of achievement and marketing assistance in the form of a dedicated photo shoot, as well as the offer of participation in the EU EDEN network.
EDEN is an EU project promoting sustainable tourism development across the European Union and is currently held every two years in 29 member states. Previous Irish winners include the Burren Food Trail, the Great Western Greenway and Loop Head.
