Lorna Siggins,
Western Correspondent
A national policy for walking is needed to revitalise this declining tourism sector, according to a new report by Leader groups in the west.
Regional walking officers and route rangers should also be recruited, says the report, which was presented yesterday to Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív.
It says these and other initiatives could recapture a market which declined by 41 per cent nationally between 2000 and 2003. There was a peak of 685,000 walking tourists in 2000.
Most of them come from overseas and spent €160 million here in 2002, some €46 a day.
The impact of the September 11th bombings and restrictions put in place during the foot-and-mouth scare in 2001 are cited by the authors as the main reasons for the sharp drop in walking tourists during that three-year period.
The report, which was compiled for 12 Leader companies and the Western Development Tourism Programme, with support from the Western Development Commission, identifies the average walking tourist as "independent, young to middle-aged, affluent and discerning".
It notes that walking tourists spend more on accommodation than the average overseas visitor, slightly less on food and drink, more on internal travel and a similar amount on shopping.
Most engage in walking or hiking alone or as a party of two.
The report recommends that a national framework for walking be drawn up based on emerging strategies from Fáilte Ireland, the Waymarked Ways Advisory Committee and this new study.
It says local walking partnerships should also be established and facilitated by Leader.
A local plan for each walk, encompassing development, maintenance, marketing and sales, should be prepared, and a walk manager reporting to Leader should be recruited for each local partnership.