Kilbehenny Community Centre played host to the Ballyhoura Accommodation Providers Tourism Conference led by Ballyhoura Development and Ballyhoura Fáilte.

Owners and Managers of glampsites, campsites, hotels, self-catering, B&Bs and camper van parks travelled from every part of the Ballyhoura region from the Clare Glens through the Ballyhouras and out to the Galty Mountains to Kilbehenny to take part in the Ballyhoura Accommodation Providers Tourism Conference.

With its regenerative theme upfront, the event started with delegates enjoying delicious coffee and scones from local business Bailey Coffee Company. The event was supported by Fáilte Ireland and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and delegates were introduced to their work in the region with the benefits of association with the brands being highlighted. This was followed by an introduction to Fáilte Ireland’s registration and quality assurance processes, featuring a step-by-step guide to registration for the Welcome Standard – the most flexible and experience-led quality assurance standard in the portfolio, and an exploration of the benefits of being listed on Discover Ireland website. An interesting and informative Q&A followed with delegates outlining their challenges with planning law and processes, and the obstacles for businesses in this sector.

The morning continued with the creation of ‘Ballyhoura Bunting’ with delegates recording on flags their favourite local produce, walk or view, their ‘must see’, and the one thing they would change or add to the region’s tourism offering, this was then displayed as bunting in the hall.

Sean Sweeney from Ballyhoura Development presented on Energy in Tourism Information, Supports and Solutions and highlighted the opportunities and benefits to businesses of getting engaged in climate action planning. 

The Ballyhoura region has strong ambitions for a well networked and regenerative tourism industry, and creating momentum around this, delegates took part in a speed networking session which continued over a delicious locally sourced lunch from Noonan Catering on a brilliantly buzzy long table where ‘the tourism chats’ were in full swing. The event closed with a focused session on Instagram for Tourism led by Karen Twomey of The Communications Hub. 

Further events for the tourism industry will be announced in the coming days, and anyone who would like to receive updates on these can email [email protected] to join the Ballyhoura Tourism Industry mailing list.  

Ballyhoura Development and Ballyhoura Fáilte would like to thank Moss Fitzgerald and all at Kilbehenny Community Centre, Fáilte Ireland and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Sean Sweeney, Karen Twomey, Noonan Catering and Bailey Coffee Company for their support with this event.