‘Strange affair’ of weekend visitors ‘met with closed doors’ at Tourism Office

The closure of Cavan’s main tourism office on Saturdays was described as a “strange state of affairs” at the May monthly meeting of Cavan County Council.

“I am asking that Cavan County Council consider opening it at the weekends,” Cllr Stiofán Conaty told those gathered, who had been informed that “confused Americans” are going to Johnson Central Library “every single Saturday” to seek information on what to do while they are visiting Cavan.

He couldn’t understand why the tourism office is closed on a Saturday, which he described as the “busiest” tourism day of the week.

“We have so much to offer them across Cavan,” said Cllr Conaty, describing how people from other counties would also tend to visit the area on a Saturday.

“Saturday is the day they are going to come,” he added.

He furthered the issue by adding that Cavan library has set up a “temporary” stand where they give out tourist information, which he believes is “not enough”.

“We have a great tourist office on the first floor of the library building, with knowledgeable staff, and which is bursting with information for tourists.

“I think that we are missing a trick here and, with the summer months upon us, this is an urgent matter,” he regarded.

Cllr Noel Connell (SF) supported the motion, detailing how tourists “want to find” information on activities when they come to the area.

Director of Services Brendan Jennings outlined there is a tourism office on the first floor of the library building, however they have “invested heavily” on their online and social media presence.

“A lot of the stuff is online,” he said, adding that they do have tourist information in “all of our libraries” and also in local hotels, both of which are “continuously restocked”.

“I take your point,” Cllr Conaty said, however he still pointed out that, if the office can open from Monday to Friday, it “should be open on Saturday also”.