Fáilte Ireland expansion 'great opportunity' for NI

The decision to extend part of the Fáilte Ireland brand into County Fermanagh is a "great opportunity" for local tourism operators.

Barry Flanaghan, who runs Erne Water Taxis, is hopeful the move to expand the brand's Hidden Heartlands campaign will bring more visitors to the county's famous lakes.

"We're in a really unique position now," he said. "I think we can only go from strength to strength with this announcement."

The collaboration marks the first time that Fáilte Ireland, the Republic of Ireland's official tourism body, has included Northern Ireland in its campaigns.

It launched Hidden Heartlands in 2018 to promote Ireland's midland counties, which will now include Fermanagh, to visitors from around the world.

A report in 2019 said tourism in Ireland's Hidden Heartlands was worth €307m (£286m) to the Irish economy.

Mr Flanaghan thinks the Fermanagh scenery will fit perfectly with the existing brand.

"The natural landscape covered in lakes, mountains, cave systems, we've got our cross border Geopark there's so much to offer people when they do come here," he said.

"And to be the very top of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands is a great opportunity. It's brilliant."

Laura McCorry from Tourism NI said Fermanagh businesses now have access to a "powerful global platform".

"Any businesses within the County Fermanagh area will be offered the opportunity to use this brand when they choose to promote their businesses, either on the island or overseas," she said.

"This initiative is really about encouraging visitors who come to the island of Ireland to travel to Fermanagh where there is so much to offer and where there is room to grow."

Gillian Beare from Finn Lough, a forest lodge retreat, hopes it will mean more "reach and exposure" for businesses.

She told BBC News NI that she hopes it will "help us to increase visitor numbers and, of course, increase revenue and that is good for us, good for employing more people, good for adding everything to the region".

Hidden Heartlands is one of a number of regional brands by Fáilte Ireland, others include the world famous Wild Atlantic Way and Ancient East which have attracted millions of tourists and added billions of euros into the Irish economy.

Alice Mansergh from Tourism Ireland said the key to the success of the individual brands is that they simplify things for visitors.

"It helps people to see why they should come, what they can do, and how they can journey around," she said.

"The waterways and the geography really leant themselves to coming together in this way, because you can take that journey up to Shannon into the Erne.

"It's a very logical journey and a beautiful itinerary."

Northern Ireland's Department for the Economy will part fund the project, spending £300,000 to roll it out.

Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the collaboration "just makes sense" .

She wants to see the other campaigns also extend across the border by incorporating the North Coast into the Wild Atlantic Way and Armagh into the Ancient East campaign, saying she believes "there are opportunities for us to gain from that".

"We have a spectacular coastline in the north that we obviously market ourselves as a causeway coastal route, and I think there is big potential from joining those together," she said.