Fáilte Ireland has launched four visitor orientation signs for Ireland’s Ancient East in Westmeath, one of which is located at Kilbeggan Distillery Experience.
The new signs are designed to encourage visitors to stay longer and explore the wider region. The other three can be found at Athlone Castle Visitor Centre; Belvedere House and Gardens; Tullynally Castle & Gardens. It's not the first whiskey-related sign on the route, as Fáilte Ireland recently launched one for The Jameson Experience in Cork. There will be additional signs in place at 80 key sites throughout the region in the coming months.
Fáilte Ireland’s head of Ireland’s Ancient East, Jenny De Saulles said: “For too long, most overseas tourists have seen the south east, midlands and north east as a region to travel to for a day or simply just to travel through. Ireland’s Ancient East seeks to change all that by creating enough ‘stickiness’ and points of curiosity that visitors will slow down, explore the region and stay overnight. These signs are geared to encourage that behaviour. Strategically located at popular stopping points, they inform visitors of all the other interesting things to see and do within an hour’s drive in every direction outwards.
"We want to transform Ireland’s Ancient East from a transit zone to a touring zone by increasing visitor dwell time in the region. Westmeath has a big part to play in our plans and these signs work to that objective and will, we hope, encourage visitors to explore the rich variety of all Westmeath can offer.”
