Opinion: Bones of a genuine tourism revival are visible in Mayo
Mayo's tourism boom is no accident.
It's the result of council, government and private industry pulling in the same direction, but more needs to be done to capitalise on what has become the most important trade in the county.
A number of notable investments in both Castlebar and Westport have provided a shot in the arm to both of the respective towns’ offerings.
Recent positive development news from across the county have the potential to give Castlebar's night-time economy a genuine shot in the arm, after a period of unfortunate closures left parts of the town reeling, while Westport's hotel sector is set for its biggest expansion in years.
An interview with Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), the lobby group representing tourism bodies, hoteliers and flight carriers, lays the issue bare.
Ireland's tourism sector is bigger than construction and agriculture, two former major industries in this county, yet today, tourism is set to outpace both and grow even further.
Westport is leading that growth. The Grace Hotel has advanced to provide a stellar option for visitors, planning permission has been approved for an expansion of the Wyatt Hotel in the town centre, and a hotel development at Murrisk could receive the green light in the coming months.
Taken together, these projects will add significant tourist bed capacity to Westport in the years ahead, boosting the local economy for businesses across the town.
Castlebar has its own success story. Dave McCormack, the new proprietor of Cannon's Bar, has turned a formerly vacant unit in the heart of the town into what is set to be a major tourist attraction and looks likely to be a major landmark for the town's social life.
The pub has been meticulously restored in the style of the original ‘Academy’, with the promise that returning patrons, some of whom left the bar back in 1988, will find it exactly as they remember it.
It is packed with photographs and names familiar to generations of Castlebar people, a pub with character that has been rebuilt from the ground up while preserving everything that made it special.
Market Square now serves as the beating heart of Castlebar, particularly at weekends when the county town's visitor numbers swell. It stands as proof that private capital, properly invested, can breathe new life into a town centre.
That momentum should continue. Developments around the College of the Future are likely to catch the eye of hoteliers, restaurateurs and bar operators from further afield.
With ATU continuing to expand and a state-of-the-art new college focused on trades and apprenticeships on the way, student numbers in Castlebar will keep rising year on year.
There is no better time for new operators to set up businesses where people can meet and socialise.
Government policy is, for now, moving in the right direction. The reduction in the VAT rate for hospitality has drawn opposition criticism, and consumers have yet to feel any benefit on their bills.
But the measure was never designed for consumers. Its purpose is to entice private investment into a sector that supports thousands of jobs across Mayo, and the early signs in Westport and Castlebar suggest it is working.
Council and industry cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal now.
The bones of a genuine tourism and hospitality revival are visible in both of Mayo's largest towns.
What happens next depends on whether that private appetite for investment is matched by continued support.