LOCAL dreams of a state-of-the-art ‘waterworld’ type attraction in Fermanagh may yet be realised, with the proposals to turn the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum (FLF) into a crowd-drawing tourist attraction.
Plans to completely redevelop the 45-year-old leisure centre in the coming years have been progressing in the background since first being announced in 2018, and the Council recently appointed a team of experts to assess how that redevelopment should proceed.
While the experts may not have specifically called for wave machines, waterslides slides and lazy rivers, the resulting report does call on the Enniskillen centre to be transformed into a tourist attraction.
In July this year the Council appointed specialists in the leisure industry to carry out a “stop and think” exercise reviewing the work that had already been done in relation to the planned redevelopment. The specialists’ report was also tasked with providing “a fresh, expert perspective” and considering “current market knowledge on trends in leisure and recreation, taking in account the impact of Covid.”
To do this the experts reviewed previous proposals for the redevelopment, scrutinised data on users, and analysed latent demand.
In a report to the Council’s regeneration and planning committee meeting the Council outlined some of the key findings of the ‘stop and think’ exercise.
It stated the experts had concluded “significant opportunities” existed to “create a destination, an experience that will attract visitors from a wider area who will dwell longer and benefit the tourist economy.”
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