Lack of broadband holding back tourism development

Westmeath’s broadband coverage has to improve if the county’s tourism potential is to be unlocked.

That’s the view of Cllr Una D’Arcy, who says that if Westmeath is to reap the benefits of being included in the Ancient East tourist trail, the county’s broadband infrastructure needs to be upgraded as many visitors depend on their smart phones when travelling.

The Sinn Féin councillor was speaking at last week’s meeting of the Economic, Enterprise and Tourism SPC, where members received an update on the council’s new Westmeath Tourism Strategy, which is at the draft stage.

Executive planner Lorraine Middleton told the members of the SPC that while the council’s new strategy will fit in to the Ancient East’s umbrella brand, it “will present a unique offering that capitalises on the assets of the county”.

The strategy breaks the county into three distinct categories: Greenways, Blueways and Lakelands; Mullingar and Historical North Westmeath; and Athlone and its Environs.

In addition to promoting the three categories, Ms Middleton said the strategy will focus on a number of different specialist tourism sectors such as the diaspora and food tourism markets.

Another important element to the strategy is the establishment of a new department headed by a tourism officer, who, council official Barry Kehoe said, would be in place for 2017.

While she welcomed the development of the strategy, Cllr D’Arcy said that the council’s efforts to promote the county will be hamstrung by the poor broadband coverage in many areas.

Fáilte Ireland are investing significant amounts of money into mobile friendly apps, which tourists won’t be able to access in many of Westmeath’s rural areas, she said.

Stressing the need for communities to be “educated” on the many attractions on their doorsteps, Cllr D’Arcy, who is a native of Tyrone, said that “the people of Westmeath have no idea how amazing the county is”.

“We need to sell the county to the people of Westmeath first,” she said.
Cllr Aengus O’Rourke said that the development of the strategy was well timed as Westmeath now has a strong tourism product and is “in a position to up our game”.

While Kinsale was once known as the culinary capital of Ireland, the Fianna Fáil man believes that Athlone now has that mantle and that the county now has a “strong accommodation base” that is the envy of many counties.

On the poor broadband coverage, Cllr O’Rourke noted that there are large swathes of the county between Athlone and Mullingar where phone and broadband coverage is almost non-existent.

Cllr John Dolan, who called on the council to hire the tourism officer before the end of the year, said that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in the strategy, including the location of the tourist office in Athlone Castle. “It doesn’t make sense. A tourist office must have parking, be accessible and be easy to find,” he said.

The Fine Gael councillor also said that there needs to be a “co-ordinated approach” to the erection of signage that directs visitors to places of interest.

“It needs to be part of a thought-out process that gets people to stay for as long as possible,” he said.

SPC chairman Cllr John Shaw also called on the council to install the newtourism officer as quickly as possible.

“We need someone working every day, who is seeking out grants and working with tourism providers. We need someone who can bring all the different strands together,” he said.

Council official Barry Kehoe said that development of the new strategy indicated that the local authority recognised how important tourism is to the local economy.
“It’s the largest industry in the world and we want to position ourselves the best we can,” he said.