Wellness tourism in Ireland needs to move beyond spa treatments
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Adventure tourism is “far from a hobby industry” now, and contributes about 12% of annual tourist spend, a conference in Killarney has heard.
Before the pandemic, adventure tourism, from kayaking to guided hill-walking, was contributing about €1.26bn to overall tourism earnings, Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism (IAAT) chief executive Brendan Kenny told the association's annual conference in the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney.
Set up with just six members in 2010, on foot of a world summit on adventure tourism, which also took place in Killarney, Ireland’s Association for Adventure Tourism now has more than 200 business ventures and is growing rapidly.
“Tourism was historically defined as car, rental, flights and accommodation — but people want to do things and Ireland is a unique place for adventure tourism,” IATT chair Colin Wolfe said.
“It is far from hobby tourism now,” he added.
The meeting heard the general understanding of wellness tourism was associated with indoor activities. However, it needed to move beyond spa treatments. And there was a huge role for wellness and health outdoor activities.
Several adventure tourism operators reported problems with access to mountains and waterways.
Access to national parks and conservation areas, as well as through farmers’ land, was proving a challenge.
Mr Kenny said the association was in talks with various departments to try and find a way forward. One of the major concerns for farmers was insurance risk, he said.
The cost of insurance was also a challenge for activity tourism operators as adventure tourism had a higher risk profile.
Irish Tourism Industry Confederation chief executive Eoghan O’Mara Walsh said Ireland was losing its competitiveness because of the high cost of doing business here.
He also appealed to the next government to develop purpose-built centres for refugees and asylum seekers and to no longer rely on tourist accommodation.
Eoghan McCarthy of Ballyhass, a lakes and water adventure centre near Mallow, Co Cork, told the conference his centre now employs 140 people.
Challenges include hikes in the minimum wage and costs associated with staff training, which were "prohibitive”, he said.