Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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27. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his Department’s efforts to promote tourism in east County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61449/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I should clarify that regional tourism promotion is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland, in collaboration with Local Authorities and other tourism stakeholders. County Galway is included in Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategies 2023 – 2027. County Galway encompasses these two programme areas as follows; Galway City and the west coastline which is along the Wild Atlantic Way, while the east of the county is in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.

Fáilte Ireland has established localised Destination Experience Development Plans (DEDPs) to activate these brands. The DEDPs are 5-year sustainable tourism development plans for a destination, which bring public and private sector organisations together to prioritise tourism development projects and maximise their chance for success. The DEDP’s are highly collaborative in nature, involving all local stakeholders and this is reflected in the agreed action plans where ownership is assigned among the various parties.

Consultants were appointed to develop an East Galway DEDP in September 2025. An initial meeting was held with Galway County Council on November 5th, with the first working group meeting due to take place in the coming weeks.