Encouraging visitors to discover the celtic spirit
WEXFORD County Council in conjunction with its partner stakeholder organisations launched the Celtic Routes Project brand before a large group of stakeholders in the Riverside Park Hotel.
Led by Carmarthenshire County Council, the project will focus attention on the wider tourist areas of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, in Wales, and Waterford, Wicklow and Wexford, in Ireland.
At the launch an outline was given on the progress of the project to date and it was announced that the ‘marketing milestone’ for the scheme is to be brought forward from January 2020, to September 2019.
The main aim of the initiative is to boost the contribution of tourism to the economies of the six counties by encouraging existing visitors to explore different parts of each county and also persuade transient visitors to spend more time while visiting.
At the launch the consultant firm involved, Heavenly, described the brand idea for the marketing campaign that will be based around the theme of ‘discovering the Celtic spirit’.
A spokesperson for Wexford Co Council said the Celtic spirit aspect of the project is part of the ‘fundamental link’ that connects the two countries which also inspires the cultural heritage of each territory.
She said the Celtic Routes logo is inspired by an ancient druidic blessing: ‘Our world is made of the Sacred Three, we invoke you sky and land and sea’.
‘ The three elements in the logo represent this Celtic trinity,’ she said. ‘ Travellers to the three Irish and three Welsh counties will be encouraged to experience and enjoy the land, the sea and the sky,’ she added.
The bond between the two countries and the counties involved is another aspect of the project that was highlighted at the launch: ‘We are an interwoven, unique rural tribe that has infiltrated the world.’
‘Our history and our pristine native landscapes have given us a different pace of life, and a different way of life,’ said the spokesperson. ‘Our mountains and hills have whispers of stories untold,’ she added.
‘Our bays, beaches and cliffs are never more than an hour away.’
The culture and heritage links between the areas involved was also emphasised at the launch and the marketing campaign will focus attention on the various cycling and walking trails accessible to visitors along with landmark sites such as castles and country houses and gardens.
‘We have saints and scholars, castles and gardens, landscape, legends and lore,’ said the spokesperson.
‘ This is what we see and do every day, this is what makes us this way.’
“We are an interwoven unique rural tribe that has infiltrated the world”