TOURIST CENTRE:THE FIRST IN a series of redesigned tourist centres has been opened by Fáilte Ireland in Galway city.
The tourist body is investing €2.6 million in regional tourist centres around the country with the aim of giving visitors from home and abroad an "interactive discovery experience".
Fáilte Ireland says that Irish people are already using its website, www.discoverireland.ie, to plan and book holidays but that Galway Discover Ireland Gateway Centre will help even more people make most use of the internet as a self-service information facility.
The initiative marks a "significant headway in the development of regional tourism throughout the country", according to Fáilte Ireland.
Minister for Tourism Seamus Brennan said that provision of the "state of the art" information service was critical to the success of the Government's policy of promoting tourism growth throughout the regions.
The domestic holiday market is now valued at more than €1 billion; the western region reported 1.47 million overseas visitors last year, according to preliminary figures. This is a 5 per cent increase on 2006.
