FERMANAGH families are already helping keeping the county’s tourism industry afloat by staying local.
That’s the verdict from the team behind one of the county’s most popular attractions, the Share Discovery Village, who said they’ve been enjoying a busy late start to the season, thanks to local support.
The Lisnaskea activity centre, which is also a charity and helps provide inclusive holidays for both disabled and non-disabled people alike, lost its main source of income when the lockdown put an abrupt halt to its usual influx of school and other groups. However, it has now welcomed the growing popularity of ‘staycations’ with open arms.
Dr Peter McEvoy, pictured below, chief executive of Share, said: “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were disappointed for our customers and worried about how we’d survive financially. The staycation market has rescued our summer season.
“Thankfully, people feel safe to venture out due to the precautions being taken by businesses and keen to support local this summer by booking a staycation. This is fantastic news for us and other hospitality providers in Fermanagh.”
Dr McEvoy said the team had been working hard to make sure the centre was safe and clean, and that hard work had helped build public trust.
This, combined with a new improved booking system and the recent addition of a new water park, no less, has not only seen bookings flood in from across Ireland but has been very popular with Fermanagh day trippers in recent weeks.
“We are extremely grateful to local families and those further afield who have come to take part in canoe, kayak and SUP hire and Water Park sessions recently because that income will help us weather a challenging 2020 and allow us to once again fulfil our charitable aims of offering accessible activities and accommodation once restrictions on group activities have been lifted further,” said Dr McEvoy.
“The local community have been very supportive and we hope to have more facilities open for them soon, such as our pool and fitness suite.”
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