Five year tourism plan for Tralee

TRALEE Chamber Alliance has unveiled an ambitious five year plan aimed at dramatically increasing tourism in the town.

The 2020 to 2025 tourism development plan – based on a 105 page report by Tralee business consultant Tom O’Leary – was launched by Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin at Ballyseede Castle last week.

A key aspect of the plan is the expansion of Tralee’s existing festivals and the introduction of several new festivals and events.

These include plans for an annual Chinese New Year celebration to start in 2020; a new music festival at Ballybeggan Racetrack and a bid to host Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2022/23.

Further support to expand the successful National Circus Festival and the Kingdom County Fair is also envisaged.

The plan will also see the development of steering groups to oversee the overall strategy and individual aspects of the plan; the provision of training and mentoring programmes and the development of a Tralee tourism brand.

The plan will also see a concerted effort to secure Fáilte Ireland ‘Destination Town’ status and associated funding.

THE head of Tralee Chamber Alliance (TCA) Ken Tobin said the new five year tourism development plan can lead to a “sea change” for the town.

Mr Tobin said the mantra when it came to preparing the plan was to break the mould.

“How do we expect to get different results if we keep doing the same thing,” Mr Tobin asked?

The architect of the plan Tralee based consultant Tom O’Leary said Tralee has a lot to offer but needs to take more advantage of its assets.

“Tralee has everything but in the last ten years hasn’t been great for promoting it,” he said