I guess Lough Ree isn't much of a tourist desination

snow scorpion

Where do Irish people go when they holiday in Ireland?

According to new data released by Fte Ireland, the southwest of the country is the most popular destination for those people who decide to forego a trip abroad.

West Cork and Kerry were the most popular spots in 2017 for domestic visitors in 2017. The southwest was second only to Dublin when it comes to international visitors

Here is the breakdown of domestic visitors and spend by county:

1. Dublin: 1,497,000 (€307m)
2. Cork: 1,113,000 (€337m)
3. Galway: 1,024,000 (€247m)
4. Kerry: 964,000 (€205m)
5. Wexford: 654,000 (€146m)
6. Mayo: 503,000 (€108m)
7. Tipperary (N&S): 496,000 (€92m)
8. Donegal: 376,000 (€96m)
9. Clare: 362,000 (€86m)
10. Wicklow: 319,000 (€49m)
11. Waterford: 327,000 (€58m)
12. Kilkenny: 298,000 (€69m)
13. Kildare: 286,000 (€36m)
14. Limerick: 284,000 (€46m)
15. Sligo: 247,000 (€51m)
15. Carlow: 228,000 (€36m)
16. Laois: 228,000 (€30m)*
17. Offaly: 228,000 (€30m)*
18. Meath: 223,000 (€44m)
19. Cavan: 206,000 (€32m)*
20. Leitrim: 206,000 (€32m)*
21. Louth: 179,000 (€30m)*
22. Monaghan: 179,000 (€30m)*
23. Westmeath: 159,000 (€18m)
24. Roscommon: 130,000 (€18m)*
25. Longford: 130,000 (€18m)*

Lough Ree, oh Lough Ree,
Where the three counties meet
Longford, Westmeath, and Roscommon

https://www.irishcentral.com/travel/best-places-vacation-ireland-chosen-irish

nice_guy80

You need investment in facilities in order make use of a lake and rivers
There has been very little - car parks? jettys? information?

A lakeside walk going around the whole lake would be a great idea if you ask me. There is so much history around the lake.

_Brian

The thing is we need a broader view regarding investment.

Tourism investment should be based on these numbers and priorities given to counties from the bottom upwards with Dublin receiving none.

It would push tourists and their spend out onto less well off regions and generate local employment.

n97 mini

Tourists visit Dublin because it's where the airport is. They visit the Southwest because there are hundreds of private companies organising coach tours (from Dublin) and there are hundreds of hotels for them to stay in.

Longford could do better, but it is missing key features that make those areas attractive: mountains and coastline.

gingernut79

Aside from the towns on the Shannon's crossing points, the majority of Lough Ree's shores
a) flood in the winter and are made up of very boggy waterlogged land
b) are protected habitats
c) miles from anywhere.

Just saying you can put in a walkway around the whole thing isn't all that practical in a way that you might be able to develop amenities on a lake with stony shores.

KevRossi

You need to start with what you have.

You could start off with doing marked trails instaed of the expense of new walkways.

This is an example. You can link up to the existing Greenway along the canal. There's also a loop from Mullingar along the Greenway to Athlone, backroads to Ballymahon and along the canal to Mullingar.

Then there@s plenty of backroads where ypou can put marked cycling and walking trails at little expense. Here's an example of how to get from the Royal Canal greenway to the proposed one from Sligo to Tuam and Galway.

Marked trails significantly increase traffic as people feel more confident about routes. All ariound these counties there are dozens of potential routes, along largely flat roads for people to cycle on. It's a matter of drawing up one coherent plan where several counties are willing to pull together.

Then there's the bogs. What will happen to them after 2030?
I propose converting as much of the existing railways that will become defunct into cycle paths. You could, for example cycle 40km from Roosky to near Ballymahon along disused railways, or convert one of the tracks to a tourist train.

Use Lanesborough/Ballyleague as a centre for cycling and watersports. There's mountain biking in Slieve Bawn, develop this as well and look at what they did with Lough Boora as an example for what can be done with a worn out bog.

Put parking spots for camper vans in each town and village along with hook up points for electricity, or encourage pubs etc to install them.

Look at Boyle town for a venue for mountain biking and whitewater canoeing/rafting.

Develop the Rathcroghan and associated sites, there's very little on it, but they are far more diverse and interesting than other well publicised sites in Ireland.

The new N5 will be built at some stage, so develop the Strokestown the Ballagh route as an alternative historic route.

Develop a Camino properly from Rathcroghan to Croagh Patrick to link up with the Tochar Padhraig.

Develop another cycling route along back roads and bog tracks along the Suck from Castlerea to Ballinasloe and on to Shannonbridge. Spend €2 million building a cycle and walk bridge over the Shannon here.

Develop a cycle and walk path along boreens from Drumshanbo to Limerick, or just to Portumna.

Very little needed for the above... signposts...good website...good app... good maps. Do it once and do it properly.

There's a lot that can be done with a single vision. Look at the Wild Atlantic Way, it's essentially a route along existing roads that have always been there. It just needs vision.

topnotch

With the recent redevelopment of pairc ui caoimh leading to Cork hosting hurling quarter finals. It would be interesting to know how many of the Wexford fans for example would have never been to the city before.