7.71 As previously stated, at the time of preparation of the Draft Development Plan, Cork City Council is working with Fáilte Ireland and other stakeholders to prepare a Tourism Destination Plan for Cork City and East Cork. It is envisaged that this will address the reliance of Cork City’s tourism market on commercial tourism. There is a need to broaden this base to include leisure tourism by developing the tourism products and activities in the city. 7.72 Cork City Council supports in principle the enhancement and expansion of existing visitor facilities and the development of new facilities and activities, particularly those which offer optimize opportunities associated with our City’s rich natural, built and cultural heritage and seek to introduce a new type of attraction which will help diversify the range of visitor attractions in the City. In particular the City Council will support the expansion of the cultural offering of the city, notably the development of the Crawford Art Gallery and the delivery of the Cork Events Centre.
7.74 In common with all other themes within this Development Plan, Cork City Council actively promotes a transition towards a more environmentally sustainable tourism sector.
Visitor Accommodation
7.75 The availability of a choice of visitor accommodation across a range of accommodation types is a key enabling factor in fostering tourism growth. The accommodation stock in Cork City, akin to cities worldwide, is weighted towards hotels. Despite limited growth pre-2018 and an under-supply of visitor bed spaces, the number of new hotel proposals and extensions to existing facilities has significantly increased in the meantime with number of new or expanded premises opening or construction nearing completion and more proposals in the pipeline. As the city’s demographic expands with commensurate increase in economic growth, there is likely to be more demand for accommodation to support commercial and leisure tourism and this will need to be supported by visitor accommodation growth into the future.
7.73 Cork City Council will also explore with
stakeholders opportunities to introduce public realm improvements and better utilise our green and blue infrastructure particularly as part of our ambitious regeneration, compact growth and city neighbourhood proposals.
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Cork City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028
Volume 1 I Chapter 7
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