This article is from page 30 of the 2007-03-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
THE people of the Burren region have been invited to come on board with new projects which aim at cre- ating an overarching tourism man- agement system in north Clare.
The Burren Project, which is a combination of Clare County Coun- cil, BurrenBeo, Failte Ireland, Shan- non Development and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, has started work from a new base office in Ennistymon and hoping to shape the evolution of the tourism product in the area over the next few years.
“We are really hoping to work with everyone – voluntary organisation like BurrenBeo, the businesses, the
farmers, everyone who has an inter- est in the area,” said project leader Carol Gleeson. “It’s really a case of finding out exactly what is happen- ing and working in partnership with these people. “In the long term, what we want to do is have a Strategic overview and help integrate and co- ordinate a lot of the things that are already going on in the Burren. That is the aspiration the County Council would have for this project.”
The group are hoping to promote a diversification in the tourism market which would see more people com- ing in the off-season and visiting different places. They are also hop- ing to promote the environmentally sustainability of the area by promot-
ing ‘soft footprint’ eco-tourism and establishing a code for visitors.
“There are a lot of returns from that sort of tourism in the long run. We are looking for people who would stay longer, go for walks and eat in the restaurants. These people tend to come at any time and stay longer. It’s people who are interested in their health, active people and people who are interested in finding out more about what is actually going on in the Burren,’ said Emer McCarthy of the project.
“We are working closely with Bur- renBeo who have been providing info on the Burren for the last number of years. They have been working a lot with regard to education and have al-
ready done a lot of work especially in the schools. It is very much a part- nership approach, we really want to work together with people like Bur- renBeo, the IFA or anyone else who is providing a service for local peo- ple.”
Projects that the group is currently looking at include educational pro- erammes for school and _ visitors, the creation of a number of Burren viewing points, the establishment of a Burren Code about, a signage au- dit and the establishment of a Burren brand
For information contact Carol and Emer at cgleeson@burren. ie, emccarthy@burren.ie or O65 7072295.