Travel audio: The Wild Atlantic Way - which way forward?

Earlier this week, Lonely Planet named Ireland in the top 10 of its list of places to visit in 2015, with the guide citing stunning scenery, maintained traditions and a warm welcome as reasons for the positive assessment. It also paid tribute to the Wild Atlantic Way. “It snakes its way round every nook and crook of the western seaboard from Donegal to Cork – start your journey with a feast of crab claws in Inishowen and reward your endeavours with some smoked salmon in Kinsale”.

Fionn Davenport wrote the Lonely Planet entry for Ireland. On this week’s  Travel Show he is joined by Roisin Finlay, editor of Outsider magazine, and The Irish Times’ Peter Murtagh  to discuss the 2,500km driving route that  has been so successful in boosting Irish tourism.

“It’s one of the cleverest marketing tricks, if you like, that I’ve ever come across”, says Peter, who blogged about the route on its first conception. “Most of us who have holidayed in Ireland most of our lives know parts of the west coast. But here clever people inside Failte Ireland said, why don’t we thread together all these routes, simply by drawing attention to it and branding it as the Wild Atlantic Way.”

“Pretty quickly I was like, why didn’t we think of it before?” says Roisin.  “Maybe in true Irish fashion, we sometimes overlook what’s staring us in the face, and the beauty of our own country”.

The route snakes its way through some of the areas hardest hit by the downturn, and the new business created by the increasing popularity must be a most welcome lifeline for many small businesses.

“The way goes through areas that are, let’s be honest, economically depressed” says Peter. “They are on the margins. And I think one of the things that has happened is that your little café owners, your bnb people, your small supermarket, your bar people – they have realized that this is a way we can draw people into our area.”

And economic benefits bring other benefits with them. Roisin explains that the passion of small business people and the sustainability of small communities get a needed boost. “Tourism is always a lot more positive when it’s not just about getting money off tourists. It’s allowing people to look at their own communities with pride again.”

To listen to the dicussion,log on to the show’s Soundcloud page or subscribe for free via iTunes or Stitcher.

Earlier this week, Lonely Planet named Ireland in the top 10 of its list of places to visit in 2015, with the guide citing stunning scenery, maintained traditions and a warm welcome as reasons for the positive assessment. It also paid tribute to the Wild Atlantic Way. “It snakes its way round every nook and crook of the western seaboard from Donegal to Cork – start your journey with a feast of crab claws in Inishowen and reward your endeavours with some smoked salmon in Kinsale”.

Fionn Davenport wrote the Lonely Planet entry for Ireland. On this week’s  Travel Show he is joined by Roisin Finlay, editor of Outsider magazine, and The Irish Times’ Peter Murtagh  to discuss the 2,500km driving route that  has been so successful in boosting Irish tourism.

“It’s one of the cleverest marketing tricks, if you like, that I’ve ever come across”. Says Peter, who blogged about the route on its first conception. “Most of us who have holidayed in Ireland most of our lives know parts of the west coast. But here clever people inside Failte Ireland said, why don’t we thread together all these routes, simply by drawing attention to it and branding it as the Wild Atlantic Way”

“Pretty quickly I was like, why didn’t we think of it before?” says Roisin.  “Maybe in true Irish fashion, we sometimes overlook what’s staring us in the face, and the beauty of our own country”.

The route snakes its way through some of the areas hardest hit by the downturn, and the new business created by the increasing popularity must be a most welcome lifeline for many small businesses.

“The way goes through areas that are, let’s be honest, economically depressed” says Peter. “They are on the margins. And I think one of the things that has happened is that your little café owners, your bnb people, your small supermarket, your bar people – they have realized that this is a way we can draw people into our area.”

And economic benefits bring other benefits with them. Roisin explains that the passion of small business people and the sustainability of small communities get a needed boost. “Tourism is always a lot more positive when it’s not just about getting money off tourists. It’s allowing people to look at their own communities with pride again.”

To listen to the dicussion, log on to the show's Soundcloud page or subscribe for free via iTunes or Stitcher.