Fermanagh Donegal Tourism Partnership

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The Fermanagh South Donegal Joint Tourism Initiative developed a mutually beneficial working relationship between individual tourism product providers in Fermanagh and South Donegal by raising awareness of each other’s tourism product through a programme of activities. It was evident, from early in the project, that there was a great willingness for the industry to work together to capitalize on the synergy which already existed between the two regions. By working in crossborder partnership the project was able to promote effective and sustainable cross-border tourism linkages to optimise expertise and resources so as to work in an effective and focused manner for a better return on marketing investment. They developed a ‘Short Breaks’ campaign which increased visitor numbers – resulting in higher occupancy rates and customer spend, therefore improving the economic sustainability of these tourism product providers and addressing the under performance and lack of inward investment suffered by the tourism sector in the area previously. The campaign included activities such as joint advertising, print material, internet marketing, consumer promotions and familiarization visits to both regions to enable more efficient cross selling between Fermanagh and Donegal. By developing cross-border co-operation through cross agency and cross-border dialogue they managed to promote real, effective cross-border linkages for the benefit of all concerned in this unique project. Relationships have formed and friendships have been strengthened during this initiative which will act as the foundation for future proposals in the areas of training and product development.

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