{"id":74633,"date":"2025-10-11T21:53:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T21:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/74633\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T21:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T21:53:20","slug":"the-cliffs-of-moher-project-that-could-change-how-ireland-welcomes-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/74633\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cliffs of Moher project that could change how Ireland welcomes the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a changing world, every Irish business is trying to do more to meet the needs of its customers. Irish tourism knows that more than most.<\/p>\n

While the Central Statistics Office said 772,800 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in August \u2014 up 1% compared to August 2024 \u2014 international visitor numbers were down 11% to the end of July 2025, and visitor spend had fallen by 14.75% compared with 2024.<\/p>\n

The word \u2018soft\u2019 has been used by industry leaders to describe the figures for Irish tourism over the past 12 months. In these challenging circumstances, new ways to better cater for visitor needs are always welcome.<\/p>\n

Now, the tourism industry in Ireland is being encouraged to take a leaf out of the supermarket industry\u2019s playbook \u2014 after all, every little helps. Loyalty cards used by retailers such as Tesco, Dunnes, and Lidl allow supermarkets to see what customers are buying, and adapt accordingly.<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational Centre for Tourism Policy Studies director Jim Deegan: \u2018Up until now, we never had that up-to-the-minute information.\u2019<\/p>\n

A groundbreaking tourism \u2018dashboard\u2019 created by researchers at the University of Limerick gives real-time information on tourist movements in Ireland. Developed by UL researchers concentrating on the Cliffs of Moher, the technology used in the dashboard has the potential to equip Irish tourism destinations to meet modern visitors\u2019 changing tastes and needs in a changing landscape. In theory, it could be rolled out and utilised across visitor attractions in Ireland, and related businesses, from caterers to coach operators.<\/p>\n

The dashboard uses wifi data, combined with visitor attraction ticketing system information and intensive surveys to provide an up-to-the-minute picture of who the visitors to the Cliffs are, with information on their age, nationalities, and their itinerary.<\/p>\n

It will be unveiled at the Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AVEA) annual conference<\/a>, taking place at the Tower Hotel in Waterford on Monday and Tuesday. October 13 and 14. \u201cThis is the most comprehensive project of this type, over volume and over time, ever done on the island,\u201d said AVEA chief executive Catherine Flanagan.<\/p>\n

UL professor of tourism studies and director of the National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies, Jim Deegan, and his UL colleague Ernesto Batista S\u00e1nchez, created their dashboard based on research they have carried out since 2022. Mr Deegan said tourism is undergoing a \u201cparadigm shift\u201d and requires new ways to cater for different demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople used to go on holidays for escape,\u201d said Mr Deegan. \u201cEscape from weather, from parents, from their lives. But, more and more, tourism is about experience: Your holiday is an extension of your life.<\/p>\n

\"CatherineCatherine Flanagan is the CEO of the Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions whose annual conference takes place on Monday and Tuesday.\u00a0 Picture: AVEA<\/p>\n

\u201cLifestyles are also changing. Many people aren\u2019t having big meals like they used to, as drugs like Ozempic become more common. So, across the tourism sector, changes are ongoing and sometimes it leads to new demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real trick for attractions is to know who the visitors there are \u2014 how old they are, where they are from, how they arrived at the site. The more data you have, the better you can give people a good time when they come.<\/p>\n

\u201cData has become central to what you want but, up until now, we never had that up-to-the-minute information. Without prying, you can add to their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dashboard that the UL researchers created uses information from questionnaires created when visitors access wifi data \u2014 asking questions which do not divulge any personal data \u2014 combined with intensive daily survey work over the past three years and ticketing information from the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre itself.<\/p>\n

These combine to create an up-to-the-minute picture of who is coming to the Cliffs, where they have come from, and where they are going. It can tell their age, how many are in their party, if they arrived by car or bus. All this information can then be used to make their experience better. It can also help sustainability by better matching the number of coaches on site with the numbers coming.<\/p>\n

A Cliffs of Moher 2040 strategy is being prepared by Clare County Council<\/a> for managing the heritage site into the next decade \u2014 not just in terms of visitor numbers, but also sustainability. The dashboard will inform and influence that strategy.<\/p>\n

Around 1.5m people visit the Cliffs every year, with 55% coming by car, 42% by coach, and the last 3% made up of walkers and cyclists. Almost half (49%) of all visitors to the Cliffs are American, and 57% of all US visitors to Ireland come to the Cliffs. It is clearly central to Ireland\u2019s tourist offering.<\/p>\n

The dashboard created at UL for the Cliffs of Moher has wider applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith further research, we could choose sample sites across the country, and produce a tourism barometer amalgamating the data of different sites,\u201d said Mr Deegan.<\/p>\n

Such a co-ordinated dashboard could link sites such as Blarney Castle or Killarney National Park, hotels, or other destinations to better meet the needs of visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big data project. It has policy application at macro and micro level for businesses,\u201d said Mr Deegan.<\/p>\n

Catherine Flanagan of AVEA, whose members include Blarney Castle, Jameson Distillery, Fota, Muckross House, and Guinness Storehouse, agrees, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s a huge opportunity for other local authorities or destinations to learn from it or apply it or scale it for their own destination. It could be particularly applied to \u2018honeypot\u2019 destinations \u2014 places like the Giant\u2019s Causeway, and there are lots of satellite businesses that could benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AVEA conference will welcome more than 200 leaders from the visitor attraction sector across Ireland. There\u2019s huge excitement to see the UL project unveiled, and several other new developments.<\/p>\n

The conference will unveil commissioned research from F\u00e1ilte Ireland about the tourists of tomorrow: Gen Z.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are perceptions people have about Gen Z \u2014 always on their phone \u2014 but in reality actually pack their holiday with activity,\u201d said Ms Flanagan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are street smart; they are not afraid to go off-peak if they can get a better deal. They will use a city bike if it\u2019s available. They will take holiday advice from content creators that they trust. And when they holiday, they are in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conference, themed \u2018Ireland\u2019s Tourism Mosaic of Amazing Places\u2019, will also explore the resilience and diversity of the sector and challenges facing it, alongside opportunities to drive innovation, regional growth, and sustainable tourism.<\/p>\n

The conference coincides with the publication of AVEA\u2019s summer snapshot survey, where the association records 19.2m annual visitors. The conference will feature presentations from international and national speakers, including Donna Speed, CEO of We The Curious in Bristol, Kat Brogan of Mercat Tours, and Mark Kelly, president of AI Ireland. \u201cThis conference is an essential forum to discuss the latest data from our members, review current performance trends, and set out the sector\u2019s priorities,\u201d said Ms Flanagan.<\/p>\n

Meeting visitor needs through better use of data will be part of the next stage of tourism development in Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a changing world, every Irish business is trying to do more to meet the needs of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[49382,72,61,60,8531,80,6306],"class_list":{"0":"post-74633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-consumer-affairs","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-munster-business","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-tourism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}