Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys today announced a €14 million fund to support outdoor adventure activities.
Ireland’s Association for Adventure Tourism (IAAT) is delighted to see this funding secured for the sector, and the support it will give to what is an exciting area of growth and potential within Irish tourism.
However, the Association is also extremely disappointed to see focus given to infrastructural investment at this particular time when so many Adventure activity businesses are struggling to survive and reopen.
Brendan Kenny, Chief Executive of IAAT said:
“As we seek to recover from the ongoing Government restrictions arising from the pandemic, the long-term focus on outdoor activities has been welcomed and supported by IAAT. This infrastructural fund can be a fantastic support to operators in our sector who deliver the outdoor activities outlined in the announcement, and we look forward to working with local Councils to ensure that these projects achieve maximum benefit for the businesses and communities in rural Ireland. It really is a badly needed boost for so many families in rural Ireland employed by the adventure tourism sector.
Having said that, our immediate focus is on ensuring that those very same businesses actually survive both the current situation and the continuing insurance crisis. Indeed many businesses have yet to receive any continuity funding that is fundamental in enabling them to survive this current crisis. It is also now of paramount importance that the outdoor adventure activity sector is given absolute clarity on when our businesses will be permitted to reopen for what is a very short, domestic season again in 2021.”
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