The Clare Tourism Advisory Forum claims a bank of student accommodation in Ennis would be a gamechanger for both the town itself and the county’s tourism industry.
It follows calls from a former Mayor of Ennis for student housing to be built at the Freight Yard at Ennis train station, which would double as tourist accommodation during the summer period.
It’s claimed Clare isn’t reaping the benefits of international tourism due to a shortage of accommodation and a lack of public transport.
Fine Gael Councillor Johnny Flynn says he’s aware of tourists cancelling plans to travel to the Banner due to issues surrounding bed capacity caused by the humanitarian effort to house displaced Ukrainians.
The former Mayor of Ennis wants the town to adopt a hub and spoke model of tourism, whereby accommodation is located near public transport to facilitate sustainable transport.
He’s asking for consideration to be given to building student housing at the Freight Yard at Ennis train station, which would double as tourist accommodation during the summer period.
Councillor Flynn insists the county town is losing out economically due to deficiencies in our tourism offering.
In response, Clare County Council has said the Tourism Department is working with Fáilte Ireland on the development of an up-to-date accommodation audit information report, which will focus on approved accommodation stock.
It will take into account the Clare Tourism Strategy 2030 and all relevant plans for the County, while establishing demand drivers and opportunities for the provision or increase of overnight accommodation.
This is currently in the research stage but the Local authority says the suggestion to increase the capacity of student accommodation is welcome and will be included in the audit.
The Clare Tourism Advisory Forum has also welcomed the suggestion.
It’s Vice-Chair, Maurice Walsh says a bank of accommodation could attract other universities or an extension of UL into Ennis, while at the same time increasing the county’s capacity for tourism.
