Certificate in Marine Tourism and Seafood Fundamentals Graduates accompanied by LYIT President, Mr. Paul Hannigan, Dr. Sean Duffy, School of Tourism, School of Tourism Staff, Joan Crawford Failte Ireland and Mary Daly Donegal County Council at the Conferring Ceremony in the Blue Haven, Kilcar.
Wednesday last was a special day for students from the Letterkenny Institute of Technology’s School of Tourism when they were conferred with their certificates following the completion of the Certificate in Marine Tourism and Seafood Fundamentals course, as part of the Donegal Coastal Trail Project, in the Blue Haven in Kilcar.
This part time course took place from September to December 2016 with a second course running from January to May 2017 and was developed by LYIT’s School of Tourism for people working in the marine tourism and seafood sector.
The aim of the course was to assist business owners and people employed in the marine tourism sector in Donegal to develop their skills and competencies in areas relating to seafood and marine tourism including development of key digital marketing skills and knowledge of promoting a marine tourism business on the Wild Atlantic Way. The course paid particular emphasis on operating a tourism related business in a coastal rural location.
A sea of opportunity
Having thoroughly enjoyed this course well known adventurer and tourism entrepreneur Bren Whelan from Wild Atlantic Climbing said “I completed the Marine Tourism & Sea Food Fundamentals certificate course at LYIT, Killybegs in December 2016. The LYIT lecturers were all highly skilled professionals and the facilities on campus were excellent. My learning opportunities were enhanced through a wide range of expert guest speakers and off campus field trips to relevant destinations during the course. In my opinion, Donegal County Council and LYIT are leading the way with a course that benefits a wide range of people from across the county. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience from start to finish.”
The Certificate in Marine Tourism and Seafood Fundamentals was funded by Údarás na Gaeltachta and Donegal County Council and provided a forum to learn more about the marine tourism and seafood sectors and encouraged networking opportunities for participants to generate business for each other in the future.
Speaking following last week’s ceremony Barney McLaughlin, Head of Tourism with Donegal County Council explained that “the Donegal Atlantic Coastal Trail is an innovative food and marine tourism project and the goal of this project is to raise awareness of the excellent marine leisure and seafood opportunities on the Donegal coast and islands and to encourage local communities to experience our own marine leisure activities and seafood coast that is right on our doorstep and perhaps unexplored”.
He added “the inclusion of the islands adds an additional unique element to the project where visitors can experience something different and unexplored. The project helps local marine leisure activity providers, restaurants and pubs to work together to bundle their offering and create experiential packages that can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. This will reduce seasonality by offering experiences that are available all year long”.
Select an option below
