The county of Tipperary must welcome today’s announcement by Ryanair of its plans to increase the number of services it provides both to and from Shannon International Airport.
Ryanair have stated that as from April 2014 it will begin operating services to Berlin, Faro, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Munich, Nice, Paris and Warsaw, delivering an additional 300,000 passengers per annum to the airport.
If this latest announcement of new routes and the airline’s decision to increase and pursue significantly its Shannon Airport passenger numbers is successful, it will put the newly independent west of Ireland airport on a much more firmer footing with regard to possible future prospects for tourism growth in the Tipperary region.
As a result of today’s announcement a thriving Shannon Airport can be seen as ‘manna from heaven’ for the Tipperary economy as well as obviously being a significant moment for the entire West of Ireland Region, but only provided our heartland of Mid Tipperary now takes full advantage.
We must now introduce a stronger embryonic tourism cord from this western area, using the natural and other newer significant Tourism developments which have been put in place over the past number of years, thus linking to the smaller towns and villages creating the “Spokes of a Wheel,” to which I referred in the past. These “Spokes” will lead eventually here to Thurles and its Co Tipperary environs. The routes announced by Ryanair will then open up a number of new markets not just for Irish holidaymakers going outwards, but should also greatly contribute to the already growing number of Continental tourists currently visiting the West of Ireland and if encouraged the now neglected heartland of Ireland.
Here is an ideal opportunity to create real jobs in Co Tipperary.
To this end the tourism group Hidden Tipperary will shortly call on all Tourism Service Providers in Co Tipperary to a meeting to discuss tourism marketing issues in the coming weeks. While this event will take place in Thurles, an actual date and venue has yet to be decided.
Watch this space for further details to be announced in the coming week ahead.
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