Welcome to Grass Roots Tourism
Grass Roots Tourism is a project initiated in 2008 to establish a South East Regional Rural Tourism Office. To be located in Dunhill Ecopark which is situated in the UNESCO Copper Coast Geopark, Dunhill, County Waterford. The goal of Grass Roots Tourism is work with the community, partners and key stakeholders in co-ordinating and developing a broad range of rural tourism services based on our Celtic Cultural Heritage. Rural Ireland has a unique and diverse history with so much to offer visitors from eco-tourism to learning vacations that are of interest to both domestic and overseas visitors, particularly our cousins in Newfoundland.
The objectives of Grass Roots Tourism are to:
- Promote rural tourism and research as a bottom-up approach to sustainable rural community regeneration
- Encourage interactive tourism
- Promote training and development that specifically target rural tourism needs
- Foster job creation by nurturing rural community tourism initiatives
- Nurture and facilitate community organisations and local businesses to develop learning vacation programmes that offer domestic and overseas visitors a memorable experience
- Innovate and develop heritage and cultural trails that will act as a vehicle to discovering hidden treasures in rural communities
- Adhere to principles of best practice in the tourism industry
- Engage with tour operators; travel agencies; Irish Diaspora community organisations overseas; community interest groups in Ireland
- Encourage social inclusion by promoting community participation
Dunhill Ecopark Heritage and Tourism Vision Statement
“Promotion of a cooperative community tourism approach that is sustainable and provides value and interest to both local people and visitors. To develop a joint-up rural tourism approach to compliment Waterford City and elevate rural County Waterford as a tourist destination in the South-East of Ireland.”
