The town that was once Ireland's prime tourism location is losing its lion's share of the market. Anne Lucey reports
"Killarney is one of the best places in the world to live, work and play" - the superlatives normally reserved for tourists visiting the birthplace of Irish tourism are soon to target locals, too.
In 2004 the town will begin celebrating 250 years of tourism, marking Killarney's beginnings as a resort in 1754 thanks in large part to local landlord Thomas Browne, the fourth Viscount Kenmare.
One of the uphill battles will be in convincing locals to get to know their surroundings and the town's history as a resort.
"We don't know it, and every year we know it less and less," said Mr Jerry O' Grady, chief executive of Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, the parent company of the Killarney 250 celebrations. What is planned for 2004 and much of 2005 - 20 months in all - is not so much a festival but "a change of mind", Mr O'Grady said.
Along with the urgency for locals to get to know their area is a worry that Killarney - despite its ethereal beauty and age-old tradition of service - is losing its share of the tourism market.
There are growing competitive forces. And access to the town, despite the growth of Kerry Airport, remains a problem.
Tourism in Dublin is growing at twice the rate of the south-west. Even before September 11th and foot-and-mouth, overseas visitors to the region grew by 23 per cent, compared to a rise of almost 46 per cent for the Dublin region.
"Killarney is considered beautiful, but light," Mr O'Grady said. He garnered this impression from standing at trade fairs abroad while trying to market the area. He knows tourists may return to Newgrange again and again, but not necessarily to Killarney. The tourist needs to bring home "memories, not just souvenirs" - and the difference is heritage, he said.
There is much to appreciate in the Killarney valley. There is wildlife, rare plant life, varied geology, its history of mining since the Bronze Age, and its Christian heritage. The town was visited by Tennyson and most of the Romantic and Victorian writers, and by Queen Victoria.
Planning for the celebrations is well under way a year in advance, and has the support of sports and community bodies and of Dúchas.
Tourism accommodation in Killarney has grown by an astonishing 30 per cent over the past five years. The town receives an estimated two million visitors a year, half from within the State. Up to 20,000 beds are available, half of them registered. Earnings of around €200 million a year are generally accepted as a conservative estimate.
Jobs in the industry have traditionally paid poorly, and are also seasonal. Conditions have improved but some argue that non-EU workers are increasingly being employed because they are often willing to work longer and more awkward hours and cost employers less. FÁS and SIPTU complained strongly this year because college students could not get summer jobs.
However, Mr Patrick O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Gleneagle Hotel and director of Bord Fáilte, believes foreign workers have enhanced the industry in Killarney. They are professional and have worked out well, he says.
"But it is important to have a local balance in the staff, especially for foreign tourists," he adds.
Killarney town has improved greatly, earning a gold medal in the national Tidy Towns competition and a silver medal in the European-wide Entente Florale.
Now, however, it is the valley that is suffering: there is pollution in Lough Leane, beside which the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley composed the notes to Queen Mab in 1813. Shelley considered the "arbutus-covered" lake to be the Italian lakes' equal.
Famous landmark 19th century tea cottages, such as Dinis Cottage at the Meeting of the Waters, have fallen into ruin in the past 10 years. Toilets at Killarney's second most visited centre, Torc Waterfall, remain closed. Dung from jarvey horses is piled so high on the paths that there is an outcry among locals. Paths and walkways are inaccessible due to lack of maintenance.
Dúchas has not the funds needed, and has had to reduce the number of workers in the park.
Tourism in Killarney, like other popular tourist landscapes in Ireland, is becoming "unsustainable", said Mr John Ducie, vice-chairman of An Taisce.
"There is absolutely no logic that while there has been investment of hundreds of millions of euro in hotels in the town, Dúchas have sustained cutbacks."
Anyone building a hotel in Killarney should have to pay a planning levy that would go towards maintaining the natural surrounds which, after all, sustain them, Mr Ducie argued.
It is simply not acceptable that the profits made by the industry do not contribute to the environment and the heritage locally, he said.
"Killarney is ineligible for UNESCO World Heritage Status, because its tourism development has not been managed properly. There are no buffer zones. Development has been allowed too close to the lakes," he added.
Sustainable tourism meant enhancing the intrinsic value of heritage, he noted.
"Re-Imagining Killarney" the new "vision" for the town commissioned by Killarney Town Council and co-ordinated by Murray O Laoire architects, has focused on the notion of sustainable development. The emphasis, it says, should be on cultural heritage, arts, and cultural activities for tourists and locals alike.
Apart from Ross Castle, a crowded transport museum (soon to be demolished), and Muckross House and gardens, "there are surprisingly few visitor attractions in or near the town", it says.
There is a need for pedestrianisation in the town centre and to manage traffic better. Most agree now that the last thing Killarney needs is more large hotels.
Mr O'Grady is convinced Killarney will consolidate and move on to build, for instance, a much-needed theatre, establish a catering and tourism college and perhaps a natural history museum. Killarney can no longer simply trundle along and develop any old way, he added. The celebrations would be a catalyst for change. "It will be a sea-change."