Two Mayo towns named on best towns shortlist

FÁILTE Ireland has published the shortlist of the best 15 towns and villages in Ireland, and Mayo has two entries. Westport and Belmullet have both been shortlisted for the 2014 Tourism Towns Awards, which recognise Irish towns and villages where the local community goes the extra mile to enhance their appeal to tourists.

The towns will now be subjected to unannounced inspections from a team of independent secret shoppers who will assess the quality of visitor experience to be had.

The top 10 highly commended Tourism Towns will be announced at the national Tidy Towns awards later in year, with the overall winners, best large and best small, to be announced by Fáilte Ireland in November.

The assessors will look at how each town presents itself to visitors and in particular will look for evidence of a high quality visitor experience and of involvement by the local community and businesses in delivering this experience. They will also look at the quality of its attractions and sites of interest and how well the town promotes what they have to offer.

Towns will be judged on four key areas: Sense of place, local involvement, tourism products available and the development and promotion of the town.