Visitor Services

The Visitor Services unit is based in Claremorris, Co Mayo and also has team members in Kilkenny, Dublin Castle and Trim. This unit is responsible for public- facing services at heritage sites. This unit provides a wide range of support services to heritage sites with visitor facilities, which includes marketing and promotional activities, recruitment and training of approx. 350 seasonal guides, provision of online ticketing, financial management of income, funding for events, accessibility and a range of digital services.

The unit also manages stakeholder relationships which include guide and conservation teams, community groups, disability organisations, Fáilte Ireland, Government departments, and bodies representing commercial entities e.g. the Irish Tour Operators Association, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation. There are three main sections –Marketing; Recruitment, and Financial Management.

Promotion & maintenance of the Heritage Ireland website; management of social media channels under the Heritage Ireland brand; Trade Engagement with domestic and international trade partners; funding for on-site events; community outreach; implementation of schemes of free entry e.g. for children under 12 and visitors with disabilities and their carers, Free Wednesday Scheme, Free Educational Visits for Schools etc; management of Heritage Cards and distribution of stocks to the sites; Sale of Heritage Cards; visitor surveys;

Admission Tickets; Mobile Communications / Radios - Licences, Purchases & Repairs; Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO); Multi – Lingual Translations; publications and printing of printed material etc.

Recruitment and training of up to 350 seasonal guides; maintenance of the online system for recruitment of seasonal guides; supporting Irish Sign Language Tours at OPW heritage sites; engagement with bodies such as AsIAm and development of resources to improve the visitor experience for visitors with disabilities.

Financial management of ticket and merchandise sales; operating the Tour Operators Voucher Scheme; visitor statistics; provision of online booking services for a number of heritage sites; implementation of systems to ensure compliance with the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standards.

Development of enhanced financial management procedures and the redevelopment of the online booking system for heritage sites.

The management of State Events, Commemorations and other large scale Government events is managed through the State Events Unit, Dublin Castle.

Heritage Services directly employs approximately 1,400 people throughout Ireland to conserve, promote and protect Ireland’s heritage.

This programme is jointly managed by the OPW, Fáilte Ireland and D/HLG&H in order to develop visitor-facing infrastructure at heritage sites in State care and to improve certain facilities where they already exist. The strategic aims of the programme are:

• To increase the number of overnights spent by overseas visitors in target areas, and to increase the tourism revenue generated and the associated tourism employment numbers by delivering world class visitor experiences;
• To move Ireland’s tourism patterns from being a substantially transit zone to a touring zone thus increasing visitor dwell time in the region;
• To disperse visitor traffic across the geography by equally encouraging the exploration of both signature and lesser known sites and experiences.

Fáilte Ireland funds 75% of most projects and the OPW the balancing 25%. Examples of work under the programme completed include:

Bru na Bóinne: Fabric renewal and exhibition project, formally opened December 2019.

Knowth: New Visitor Experience. The current phase sees the completion of the project with a new Stone Museum exhibit around the Knowth archaeological discoveries.

Carlingford Castle: Safety, Access & Presentation project. Castle visitor access will be managed through the Lough Heritage Trust, a local Heritage group, in partnership with the OPW.

Ormonde Castle: Restoration & New Visitor Experience / exhibition

Blasket Island Centre: Fabric renewal

Some current and proposed upcoming works are in progress at:

Dublin: Dublin Castle Visitor Centre due for completion in 2025/2026, the Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park for completion of Visitor experience in 2027, Casino at Marino.

Ancient East: Newgrange, Rock of Cashel.

Wild Atlantic Way: Inis Mor, Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery.