New book highlights what visitors want from Westport

By Joan Geraghty

THE publication by Westport Tourism Organisation (WTO) of its latest visitor and Westport host providers’ survey highlighting the town as a place that ‘visitors feel at home’ could not have been more timely given the fact that the Irish economy is only beginning to reopen once again after 15 months of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Westport once more welcoming visitors with open arms.

Visitors gave the town a resounding thumbs up with over 98% saying they would recommend Westport to a friend.

The survey report - the fifth in a series authored by sociologist and Westport Jesuit priest, Fr. Micheal MacGreil, for WTO since 1987, involved an extensive level of visitor surveying of almost 250 tourists carried out by the WTO committee over the months of August, September and October 2019, in addition to questionnaire filling by almost 180 Westport service providers on a wide range of Westport tourism issues – the data from which was then compiled, analysed and made sense of by the author in this comprehensive report.

Designed to provide guidance on tourism infrastructure requirements in Westport, the report is backed up by almost 40 tables containing detailed data on questionnaire findings such as: profile of providers; accommodation providers room/bed capacity; profile of visitor respondents; reasons choosing Westport for holiday; most attractive indoor/outdoor activities for tourists in Westport; value for money for tourists; community friendliness; cultural distinction of Westport, importance of services/delivery of services; satisfaction with Westport holiday experience; value for money; most/least attractive aspects of Westport for visitors; promotion and protection of Croagh Patrick; Clew Bay/Westport Quay/Westport House amenities; the necessity of a Westport Town Council, and more.

Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, was on hand to officially launch the publication in Westport Town Hall on Thursday.

The book survey content is explored over seven chapters that look at The Current Tourist Situation in Westport, Tourism Development and Changes in Western Ireland in Recent Years, What Westport Has to Offer and Special Westport Tourism Features and opens with three essays looking at the history, architecture and economy of Westport.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Following on from the analysis, Fr. Mac Greil lists a total of 21 recommendations ‘in response to the needs and opinions expressed in the findings’, which include:

Continued development of Westport infrastructure;

Election of a voluntary Westport Community Council;

Prioritisation of environmental protection;

Construction of a multi-storey carpark in the town;

Establishment of a special committee to report active holiday potential of Clew Bay;

Discouragement and sanctioning of public rowdiness;

Support for bus, train, shuttle and taxi services;

Development of ‘inland tour routes’ within the Wild Atlantic Way;

Provision of suitable indoor recreation facilities for young teenagers;

Provision of public lighting and footpaths on the Ballinrobe and Leenane road suburbs;

Provision of additional public toilets;

Provision of state grants for holidays as a human right for all;

Provision of a suitable town centre location for Westport Heritage Centre;

Continued support for Westport House;

Protection and promotion of Croagh Patrick as a place of pilgrimage and hill-walking.

In the preface, WTO chairperson Donal O’Shea notes that the previous surveys in the series ‘have enabled WTO to maintain, innovate and develop services and attractions that continually draw tourists to this beautiful town’, while Dr. Mark Garavan, in his foreword, assesses the survey and its findings, saying: "Its value lies in providing insight into who is coming to Westport, why they came, what they like and dislike about it and what services are present or absent that might influence their experiences".

He also notes: "The satisfaction rates recorded by visitors are remarkably high – over 98% of respondents would recommend Westport to a friend" and "The great value of coming to Westport seems to be the experience visitors have of its physical and scenic features and the engagement with the local people."

Documenting the history of Westport from its earliest settlement 5,000 years ago through the time of St. Patrick in 441 and the growth of Cathair na Mart as an important O’Malley stronghold in the 16th Century, passing on to the Brownes in the 17th Century, historian Aiden Clarke notes the rewards of such development in recent times, through the many Tidy Town Awards for Westport since 2001, as well as the award for ‘Best Place to live in Ireland’ by the Irish Times (2012).

Architect Simon Wall, in his essay discussing the layout of the town, recalls how Westport was ‘proactive with development during the Celtic Tiger period’ thanks to the Westport 2000 Town Design Statement and pays tribute to the author whose survey reports over 33 years have ‘served Westport well; resulting in very significant intellectual contributions to the policy direction that led to Westport’s contemporary success’; while Professor John Bradley in his essay points out that large employers in the town - Allergan, Portwest, Carraig Donn and Aran Woollen Mills - provide Westport with ‘a fairly robust parallel economy that is not tied to the fortunes of tourism’.

Finally, it is the author’s wish that the research is studied widely in the community - including among senior cycle second-level students, local leaders and providers - in order to ‘elicit cross-community cooperation in the ongoing challenge of maintaining Westport as a quality destination for visitors and tourists’.

Fr. MacGreil concludes: "During the immediate years after the passing of the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be an extra need for the people who have suffered various degrees of ‘lockdowning’ or ‘cocooning’ to come to places like Westport to relax and ‘revive their drooping spirit’. This will in turn require an extra effort on behalf of the Westport community, providers and citizens to respond appropriately to the post-Covid-19 situation. Hopefully, the findings of this 2019 survey report will, in some little way, contribute to this special joint-effort."

* Pictured is Minister Catherine Martin launching the Westport Tourism survey with Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil, author of the report, Donal O'Shea (left), chairperson of Westport Tourism Organisation, and Dick Harnedy, treasurer. Photo: Frank Dolan