Listowel Business & Community Alliance update Thursday July 23rd, 2020
The Advertiser Giveaway!
The Advertiser is offering a Full Page Advert each week to one local business in an effort to continue the support for North Kerry businesses as they reopen. To be in with a chance to win, please email sales@theadvertiser.ie with details of your business. Congratulations to this week’s winner Elizabelle Interiors on Church Street!
St Johns Theatre
St John’s Theatre & Arts Centre are delighted to be reopening next week with Theatrix Summer Camps;
Drama, Music & Art Summer Camp! Book now as numbers are strictly limited! Running in St John’s Theatre either week of the 27th July or the 3rd of August. Performance on the Friday evening. Contact St John’s Theatre & Arts Centre on 068 22566 or Jo Jordan on (087) 610 4224.
Mary Lavery Carrig will be presenting her new series Mary’s Irish Wildflower Haiga in August. The official opening will take place on Friday 31st July from 7-9pm. Full details available soon on St John’s Theatre & Arts Centre Facebook Page.
Funding & Grants Available
Kerry County Council is pleased to announce that grant applications are now being invited from Community Groups and local organisations across the county. In Kerry it has been agreed that the funding under this Programme will be targeted at Covid-19 related capital expenditure as well as supporting Age Friendly initiatives under Kerry’s Age Friendly Programme
Typical enhancements under the programme could include:-
COVID 19 Capital Related Expenditure
Hand Hygiene and Safety Measures at public amenities
Adaptation to Community centres and social spaces for COVID 19 related measures
Purchase of IT Equipment for Community usage and to facilitate training for older people
Improvement works to create safe outdoor recreation spaces
Accessibility projects
Home Maintenance Programmes
Provision of comfortable, safe meeting spaces for older people (indoor and outdoor)
There are two levels of grant available under the programme in Kerry:
1. Small scale capital grant of €1,000 or less
2. Capital grant in excess of €1,000
The funding covers capital projects only and should demonstrate added value.
Application Forms and Guidelines are available on the Kerry County Council website and groups can contact the Community Department with any queries by email at community@kerrycoco.ie or by phone at 066-7183680.
Applications must be submitted to the Community Department no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday the 6th August, 2020.
Listowel Business & Community Alliance Funding Applications
One of the core principles of the Listowel Business & Community Alliance is to secure funding for projects to further enhance Listowel and the wider North Kerry area. At present the following applications are pending:
Community Support Fund
Application currently with KCC since January 2020 with an aim to use for festive lighting in the town centre. KCC have yet to award the grants.
Town and Village Renewal:
An expression of interest application was submitted in early July to the KCC community department. It is for a Trail Head off the Greenway looking for funding for design and plan with an aim to go for further funding for the build stage.
Statement from Listowel Race Company
Following a Committee meeting of Listowel Race Company on Tuesday evening and advised by Horse Racing Ireland, the decision has been made to run September’s Listowel Harvest Festival behind closed doors. The seven-day festival, featuring the Guinness Kerry National takes place from Sunday September 20 to Saturday September 26.
Pat Healy, Chairman of Listowel Race Company, said: “In these unprecedented times, and in line with Government guidelines, the Listowel Race Company has made the extremely difficult decision to race behind closed doors, this means the event will not be open to the general public, this year. The health and safety of everyone is our number one priority and with crowd restrictions in place, it would be very difficult for us to run the festival, as it attracts significant numbers of visitors to Listowel each year. Making the announcement now, gives all of our valued patrons notice, with regard to travel plans and accommodation bookings. We would hope that the flavour of the Harvest Festival will still be in the town and that our local shops will continue to decorate their windows with a racing theme, TG4 will be broadcasting six days Monday to Saturday and we are delighted with their continued
support, which will bring racing into every home in the country.
“We would also like to acknowledge and thank the residents and business community of Listowel for their contribution to the Festival down through the years and already look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2021.”
Customers who have already paid for admission tickets will receive a full refund in the next two weeks. More information is available at www.listowelraces.ie or contact Listowel Races Secretary, Brenda Daly, Tel: 068 21172
The Kerry Gift Card
Listowel Business & Community Alliance is asking North Kerry businesses to sign up for the Kerry Gift Card. The initiative which was launched this week by the Kerry Chambers and Kerry County Council is aimed at providing a practical way to boost the local economy.
The card will be operated by One4All and can be used at participating businesses within the county, it is due to be made available for purchase from August. To sign your business up please contact: Marjorie McCann on email: mmccann@one4all.ie or call her on: 01 870 8109 / 086 815 2338
Kerry Tourism Industry Forum
Miriam from the KTIF Tourism subcommittee will be doing an Instagram live with Easy Peazy Family Breaks this Friday, during her interview she will talk followers through some of what we have available here in the Kingdom of Kerry, the best free family activities, hidden gems and accommodation spots. Listen out to hear North Kerry highlights and spread the word to make sure everyone hears about all the great offerings we have here for the perfect staycation this summer.
The KTIF is also urging everyone that is visiting Kerry to act responsibly this summer, as footfall increases to our local beaches and visitor attractions it is vital that everyone plays their part in keeping our county safe:
- Wash your hands well and often to avoid contamination
- Wear a face covering
- Stop shaking hands and hugging
- Respect the Government directed distance at all times
Advocacy
At the end of June KTIF, in conjunction with Kerry County Council, issued a survey to all our membership to quantify the capacity and occupancy levels in accommodation throughout Kerry. A press release was subsequently issued with the key messages that plenty of holiday accommodation was available in Kerry and, given the volume of accommodation still available, providers were not in a position to be anything other than competitive with their pricing.
With the formation of a new government, the board of KTIF has engaged with the relevant political entities and presented a list of detailed requests required to ensure the survival and recovery of tourism businesses throughout the county. KTIF Board, have communicated with Brendan Griffin T.D. to express appreciation of his endeavours for Tourism in Kerry during his tenure as minister and to wish him well in his new position as assistant Government Chief Whip.
In addition to KTIF’s representation on the National Tourism Recovery Taskforce, KTIF are also represented on the Regional Tourism Group led by KCC which meets every three weeks and includes Fáilte Ireland representatives.
Marketing
In June, KTIF launched our social media handles with some beautiful drone images, introduced by the iconic voice of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. This video launched the ‘Explore the Kingdom and Discover You’ tagline and was followed up with a video release featuring well known Kerry personalities and advocates.
To date, the videos have been viewed over 225,000 times across all platforms. The Kerry Accommodation Vouchers have been delivered to most households throughout the county and have been well received to date. For those who did not receive their vouchers a quantity are available and may be claimed at 12 locations throughout the county. The KTIF Marketing “Brainstorm Session” held on 19th June was very well attended. The discussions on the day will form the basis for the creation of a plan to market the county into the autumn / winter season 2020, new product concepts as well as looking to target international tourists when the time is deemed appropriate, subject to the national health directives.
Kerry Tourism Day is a joint initiative between Kerry County Council and Kerry Tourism Industry Federation. It is taking place on 30th July and we would urge as many visitor attractions in your area to sign up to take part.
Key takeaways from Capacity and Occupancy survey conducted in June 2020
· 86% of accommodation providers were opening in July and 5.6% were remaining closed until further notice
· In July, 86% of providers had bookings for 0-40% occupancy and 14% had bookings for 41%-80% occupancy
· In August, 78% of providers had bookings for 0-40%, 18% of providers had bookings for 41%-70% occupancy and 4% had bookings for 81%-90% occupancy
· In September, 92% of providers had bookings for 0-40% occupancy and 8% of providers had bookings for 41%-70% occupancy
For anyone who has not received a Kerry Staycation Voucher through the post, there are vouchers still available for collection in Listowel at the Kerry Writers Museum in the Square.
Failte Ireland: #MakeaBreakforIt
Get Listed
Make sure your business gets the nationwide exposure it needs through the Fáilte Ireland website listing portal. If you manage a tourism activity or attraction and want to reach audiences across Ireland and beyond, fill out a quick form to start the listings process or indeed to update your existing listing. These listings will feature across the suite of Fáilte Ireland consumer websites.
Update your listing on DiscoverIreland.ie and VisitDublin.com
Safety Charter
To support our domestic recovery campaign our national public awareness campaign for the COVID-19 Safety Charter was launched on 4th July. This campaign is designed to put the initiative and safety symbol front of mind for the consumer. The campaign will run across TV, print and radio and digital platforms, telling consumers to watch out for the COVID-19 Safety symbol
Remote Working in Listowel
With the focus now very much on remote working, Listowel is fortunate to already have been a step ahead with the development of the HQ Listowel digital hub back in 2018 at 27 Rear Market Street. Part of the HQ Kerry group which has two further hubs in Tralee. The Listowel Hub has seen a huge surge in demand over the past few weeks with many holiday makers looking to base out of the Listowel hub to extend their holidays.
Pay as you go and bundle packages available for those looking to remote work from North Kerry or for those working from home who need an outlet. Get in touch with Ken or Tom at info@hqtralee.com to find out more about HQ Listowel.
Listowel Voucher
The Listowel Voucher is available to purchase Monday to Friday at Pierse Fitzgibbon and is a fantastic way of giving while shopping local and supporting local jobs.
Kerry Writers Museum
Listowel Business & Community Alliance wishes to congratulate Cara and all the team at The Kerry Writers Museum which has just received both the Safe Destination badge from Kerry County Council and Fáilte Ireland’s Safety Charter badge. The Museum is open daily and has much to offer locals and visitors alike.
Environment
Locals may have noticed an increasing number of uncut grass areas in public parks and estates around Listowel – this is part of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan which is supported by Kerry County Council and local Tidy Towns Groups. The aim is to provide food and shelter across all types of land so that our pollinators can survive and thrive after a period of significant decline, especially in the populations of honey bees and butterflies. The taller grass allows wild flowers to develop, which attracts the bees, butterflies and birds.
