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Business Mayor
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
State bodies benefit from Fáilte Ireland digital grants
State organisations benefited from grants handed out by tourist body Fáilte Ireland under a €24 million digital scheme, figures show. The tourism development organisation paid €17.5 million over four years to consultants Core Optimisation to run a scheme to boost attraction's online sales, it emerged recently. The Shannon-based company, which employs 60 people, said the programme, Digital that Delivers, supports 600 businesses around the Republic. Figures show that State bodies were among those who benefitted from €6.6 million in grants handed out under the same scheme, dubbed Digital that Delivers, by Fáilte Ireland. Beneficiaries included forestry company Coillte, which earned €61 million profit in 2023. It received more than €120,000 in two grants of €105,000 and €15,600. The State-owned business said this was to aid its Beyond the Trees Avondale treetop walk visitor attraction opened in Co Wicklow in 2022. Funding from Fáilte Ireland included cash from the digital programme towards the development of the online booking system and website. Coillte noted that Beyond the Trees Avondale was built in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and treetop walks specialist, EAK Ireland. Fáilte Ireland said that the project was a 'highly succesful' tourist attraction. The National Museum of Ireland received two grants of more than €75,000, one for €51,795 and the second for €23,600. The organisation said this was for 'research, development, and delivery of new audio guides available in six languages for visitors to the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St'. A statement pointed out that Fáilte Ireland approved the museum's grants following an application process. Core Optimisation said that its work on the project included 'helping clients assess their digital maturity, website advisory and assessments, digital marketing projects, mentoring, data measurement and analytics'. The company maintained that the results to date had been positive. A statement pointed out that it had boosted revenues for those tourist businesses that took part while improving their staff's digital skills. The firm added that the project had already delivered 'some outstanding results'. The programme is not yet complete. Core Optimisation won a second tender for the work in March 2023 worth €25 million. It successfully bid for the first contract, worth €6 million, in May 2021. Fáilte Ireland confirmed that it paid the consultancy, run by chief executive, Caroline Dunlea and chief operations officer, David Brett, €17.5 million between from 2021 to 2024. Core Optimisation sub-contracted some work to CT Consults in Manchester and Dublin firm Razor Spire. The State body employs 450 people. It argues that the Digital that Delivers programme is a large-scale technical programme requiring technical expertise. It says it does not have enough staff with the skills to service the specific needs of 600 tourism businesses.
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
State bodies benefit from Fáilte Ireland digital grants
State organisations benefited from grants handed out by tourist body Fáilte Ireland under a €24 million digital scheme, figures show. The tourism development organisation paid €17.5 million over four years to consultants Core Optimisation to run a scheme to boost attraction's online sales, it emerged recently. The Shannon-based company, which employs 60 people, said the programme, Digital that Delivers, supports 600 businesses around the Republic. Figures show that State bodies were among those who benefitted from €6.6 million in grants handed out under the same scheme, dubbed Digital that Delivers, by Fáilte Ireland. READ MORE Beneficiaries included forestry company Coillte, which earned €61 million profit in 2023. It received more than €120,000 in two grants of €105,000 and €15,600. The State-owned business said this was to aid its Beyond the Trees Avondale treetop walk visitor attraction opened in Co Wicklow in 2022. Funding from Fáilte Ireland included cash from the digital programme towards the development of the online booking system and website. Coillte noted that Beyond the Trees Avondale was built in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and treetop walks specialist, EAK Ireland. Fáilte Ireland said that the project was a 'highly succesful' tourist attraction. The National Museum of Ireland received two grants of more than €75,000, one for €51,795 and the second for €23,600. The organisation said this was for 'research, development, and delivery of new audio guides available in six languages for visitors to the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St'. A statement pointed out that Fáilte Ireland approved the museum's grants following an application process. Core Optimisation said that its work on the project included 'helping clients assess their digital maturity, website advisory and assessments, digital marketing projects, mentoring, data measurement and analytics'. The company maintained that the results to date had been positive. A statement pointed out that it had boosted revenues for those tourist businesses that took part while improving their staff's digital skills. The firm added that the project had already delivered 'some outstanding results'. The programme is not yet complete. Core Optimisation won a second tender for the work in March 2023 worth €25 million. It successfully bid for the first contract, worth €6 million, in May 2021. Fáilte Ireland confirmed that it paid the consultancy, run by chief executive, Caroline Dunlea and chief operations officer, David Brett, €17.5 million between from 2021 to 2024. Core Optimisation sub-contracted some work to CT Consults in Manchester and Dublin firm Razor Spire. The State body employs 450 people. It argues that the Digital that Delivers programme is a large-scale technical programme requiring technical expertise. It says it does not have enough staff with the skills to service the specific needs of 600 tourism businesses.
Irish Times
26-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Fáilte Ireland pays digital consultants €17.5m over four years
State tourism agency Fáilte Ireland paid consultants €17.5 million over the last four years to run a scheme meant to boost visitor attractions' online ticket sales. The Republic's national tourism development authority launched a programme, Digital that Delivers, in 2021 to aid businesses in maximising online sales. By the end of last year, Fáilte Ireland had paid one consultants' firm – Shannon, Co Clare-based Core Optimisation – €17.5 million since the programme's launch, internal figures show. Total spending under the Digital that Delivers programme came to around €24 million. The authority distributed the balance, €6.6 million, in grants to 440 organisations and tourist attractions around the Republic, according to the same figures. READ MORE Fáilte Ireland confirmed that it had paid Core Optimisation €17.5 million – including VAT – up to the end of last year. Excluding the sales tax, the total was €14.2 million. Responses to queries about the digital programme indicated that Core Optimisation could be in line for further payouts under its contract with the State body. Fáilte Ireland originally hired the business as the programme's project manager following a tendering process in May 2021 in a deal worth €6 million, according to the tourist development authority. Core Optimisation was successful with a second bid to manage the programme in March 2023 in a tender that Fáilte Ireland says was worth €25 million. The Shannon-based company subcontracted out some of the work to Manchester firm CTConsults and Dublin business RazorSpire, which was formerly known as RazorSocial. CT received €2.945 million and Razor €2.645 million, both excluding VAT. Run by chief executive Paul Kelly, Fáilte Ireland employs 450 people. Its role is to market the Republic as a holiday destination and to support tourism businesses. A spokeswoman explained that it did not have the expertise needed to run the Digital that Delivers programme. The authority said in a statement that its research had identified that many of the Republic's 1,400 tourist attractions, activities and tours lagged European rivals' in online sales, leading to 'lost opportunities'. Most of the businesses concerned were small and did not have the skills or cash needed to improve their websites or online booking systems. The authority developed a programme that provided one-to-one guidance in improving websites, booking and marketing. It says that it hired Core Optimisation through the tendering process to provide this. [ RDS appoints Fáilte Ireland chief Paul Kelly as its new CEO Opens in new window ] Fáilte Ireland maintains that the 236 businesses that have taken part to date have increased sales by up to 10 per cent. Another 336 are still in the programme. Caroline Dunlea, chief executive, and David Brett, chief operating officer, own Core Optimisation through its parent, The Results Agency Ltd. Accounts filed by the firm show that its profit increased to €535,345 in 2021, the year it won the first Digital that Delivers tender, from €178,743 in 2020. It grew staff to 27 from 17. By 2023, staff numbers had grown to 41. Profit for that financial year slipped to €6,282 from €269,604. Core Optimisation had not responded to a request for comment by the time of going to press.
