How can tourism businesses find the right support on failteireland.ie?

Updated

Start at the "How can we help?" section on failteireland.ie and choose the path that matches your situation: browse By Support Type, By Sector, or By Goal. The goal-based route is usually the fastest for business owners, because it sorts supports into four practical stages — starting a business, becoming more competitive, growing the business, and developing your team. Each stage then points to a specific mix of funding, training, expert advice, and toolkits.

The three ways to navigate

The site deliberately offers more than one entry point, so you can start from whatever you already know about your business.

Navigation route Use it when you… What you get
By Support Type Already know what kind of help you need (funding, training, advice, toolkit) A filtered list of supports in that format
By Sector Work in a defined part of tourism (e.g. food and beverage, outdoor activity) Sector-specific programmes and tailored supports
By Goal Know your business stage or priority but not the programme name Curated supports matched to that objective

If you are unsure where to begin, the By Goal route removes the most guesswork, because it translates a business situation into a shortlist of supports.

Matching your goal to the right support

The four goals on the page map to distinct needs and support formats:

  • Start my business — early-stage support to turn a vision into a working business. Best for pre-launch or very new operators.
  • Become more competitive — expert advice to deliver more value and improve performance. Best for established businesses that are stable but want to sharpen their offer.
  • Grow my business — funding, sales opportunities, and market insights. Best when you have a proven product and want to scale reach or revenue.
  • Develop my team — skills building, confident recruitment, and staff retention. Best when people, not product, are your constraint.

Worked example: a food and beverage business

A restaurant or food-led tourism business aiming to improve margins would land on F&B 360°, which the site describes as tailored supports to increase profitability. In practice this includes one-to-one support, a customised roadmap, clinics for specific food and beverage challenges, and a suite of expert masterclasses. The page offers an "Express interest" action rather than an instant sign-up, so expect a follow-up step before you are enrolled.

Worked example: cutting costs and emissions

A business whose priority is cost efficiency would find the Climate Action Programme, which the site frames around improving cost efficiency, reducing emissions, and future-proofing the business through expert guidance, practical tools, and a tailored sustainability action plan. This one uses an "Apply now" action, so it follows an application route rather than an expression of interest.

Note the difference between "Express interest" and "Apply now" — they signal different levels of commitment and different next steps, so read the action label before assuming you are enrolled.

Using research before you commit

Support decisions are easier when you can benchmark against real data. The Research & insights section is the place to check before choosing a programme, and it covers tourism data, economic analysis, and visitor insights. Examples currently listed include:

  • Business of Tourism Report 2026 — key tourism data, trends, and business opportunities from 2025 performance (listed as July 2026, 5 min read).
  • Irish Tourism Quarterly Economic Update March 2026 — benchmarking with 2025 tourism data and planning for 2026 (March 2026, 4 min read).
  • Summer travel in 2025: what visitor choices mean for your business — planning value, experiences, and off-peak demand (November 2025, 22 min read).
  • Decoding Gen Z on the Move — shaping experiences, content, and offers (September 2025, 5 min read).

Use these to work out which goal actually applies to you before you pick a support. For example, if the summer travel insights show demand shifting off-peak, that may push you toward the growth route rather than the competitiveness route.

Checking what the support actually delivers

The site also publishes case examples under "Real impact. Real results.", showing how Irish tourism businesses improved performance. One listed example is Alive Outside adventure centre, described as transforming its outdoor business with digital (3 min read). Another is a career story, From hospitality training to the Guinness Storehouse: Finn Lyons' career in tourism (4 min read). Reading a case in your sector is a quick way to judge whether a programme's format — one-to-one advice versus a masterclass versus a toolkit — suits how you work.

A practical sequence

  1. Go to the "How can we help?" section.
  2. Pick By Goal if you are unsure; pick By Support Type or By Sector if you already know your constraint.
  3. Read the goal description and confirm it matches your stage.
  4. Open the specific programme and note whether the action is "Express interest" or "Apply now".
  5. Check the Research & insights items relevant to your sector to sanity-check your priority.
  6. Read a "Real impact" case in a similar business before committing time.

The site does not state pricing for these supports on the material reviewed here, so do not assume any programme is free — confirm terms at the point of expressing interest or applying.