Destination Stewardship Report – Volume 6, Issue 1

This post is from the Destination Stewardship Report, a publication that provides practical information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve improving destination stewardship in a post-pandemic world.

Visitors stroll the heights of the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare. Photo: Jonathan Tourtellot

A Framework for the Future from County Clare

In a complex, rural landscape like County Clare, sustainability isn’t just about protecting the environment—it’s about working together to protect a way of life. The lessons learned in Clare during certification may offer inspiration for other destinations navigating the same path. County Clare Sustainable Destination Development Officer, Fiona McKenna, explains the process, with an on-site anecdote from Cliffs of Moher visitor Rachael Vorster.

How the Ireland County Uses Certification and Collaboration for Destination Sustainability

When my mom and I drove into the Cliffs of Moher parking lot, I felt tourism’s pulse unlike anywhere else in the west of Ireland. The attraction had opened a mere half an hour earlier, yet morning sunlight pierced the clouds to glint off dozens upon dozens of parked cars, a living snapshot of the 1.6 million visitors who came here annually at last count.

Individuals, families, and tour groups buzzed everywhere, weaving between the car lot, the visitor center, and the main attraction, the cliffs themselves. Natural wonder meets travel pressure.

Had it not been for the hundreds of cars and people, the location would have felt almost undisturbed. The bunker-like visitor center appeared to be absorbed into the landscape as if it had grown there – or perhaps sunk into the hill’s depths from a forgotten time.

Most visitors came and went quickly, popping into the building, strolling down to the cliff’s edge, and taking their pictures before leaving. We bypassed these crowds, instead moving a little farther along the Cliffs of Moher trail for a more intimate experience with the limestone face. After a few hundred meters along the narrow, graveled path, the true beauty of the cliffs hit me. There, perched comfortably, I absorbed their wonder.

Sharp gray edges plummeted into slate blue waters, stretching on and on until they finally met the horizon. With my back to the path, the space felt liminal, thousands of years connected by an unchanging view. I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the infrastructure that made my visit possible as I wondered about the balance that had to be maintained to protect the Cliffs and other places like them, while also making their beauty available to the world.

The subsurface visitor centre at the Cliffs of Moher. Courtesy Jonathan Tourtellot

Fiona McKenna:
The Challenge of Rural Tourism

County Clare officials know well the complexities of sustainable tourism management – small towns, narrow roads, delicate ecosystems – all while accommodating fluctuating visitor flows to Ireland’s most-visited natural attraction. Alongside these pressures come seasonal strains on accommodation – uneven distribution of tourism’s economic benefits across the county, and increasing competition between destinations – challenges that require careful balancing to protect both community well-being and the landscapes that draw visitors here.

In response, Clare County Council recognized this reality when they launched a ten-year tourism strategy in 2021: Clare Tourism Strategy – Guiding Our Journey to a Vibrant New Future. This wasn’t just another strategy document. It was a bold, evidence-based commitment to managing tourism definitively and differently. Shaped by extensive public and stakeholder consultation, the strategy set a vision: Clare would be a globally renowned, sustainable, and vibrant destination by 2030.

But what would that mean in practice? The answer lay in embracing accountability through third-party certification and fostering unprecedented collaboration across sectors.

EarthCheck and the Power of Credible Certification

To bring credibility and accountability to their project, Clare County Council pursued third-party certification through EarthCheck, a GSTC-accredited certification body. It was Ireland’s first externally certified destination. The forthcoming EU initiatives – including the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo) Directive – underline the importance of verifiable, evidence-based sustainability efforts. Certification offered more than a badge; it provided a framework for destination-wide collaboration, monitoring, and continuous improvement.

“Certification offered more than a badge. It provided a framework for destination-wide collaboration.”

One insight gained early in the process was the indispensable role of local government to shape the conditions for sustainable tourism. Economic, social, rural and tourism development, planning, roads, waste management, and public services all create the foundation upon which tourism operates.

However, meeting GSTC’s rigorous criteria posed challenges, especially in data collection. Indicators such as Resident Engagement and Feedback (GSTC A5) demanded in-depth qualitative and quantitative input. To address this, Clare County Council partnered with the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), whose academic expertise enabled robust data collection, analysis, and reporting. This collaboration helped build both technical capacity and trust among stakeholders—essential ingredients for lasting change.

Hikers enjoy the Ballyvaughan Wood Loop in the Burren, County Clare. Courtesy Eamon Ward

Transparency as a Foundation for Trust

One of requirements of the certification process was to publish monitoring results annually (GSTC A3). This gave stakeholders, from agencies and residents to business owners, a clearer view of progress while signaling the Council’s long-term commitment to sustainability and stakeholder engagement.

“It was this honesty that built trust.”

For Clare County Council, embracing this level of openness took a good deal of courage. There’s naturally a concern that some data, particularly around infrastructure pressures –traffic on small rural roads, water quality issues, lack of public transport – could be taken out of context or used to highlight weaknesses. However, the data reflected the reality on the ground, confirming what many already knew from experience.

In the end, it was this honesty that built trust. By showing the full picture, including both challenges and successes, the Council demonstrated credibility. Positive trends within the data, such as residents’ belief that tourism supports their quality of life, and the economic and cultural benefits of a thriving tourism economy, stood out more clearly against the honest baseline. The Council reinforced that sustainable tourism isn’t about perfection, but about progress grounded in truth and a commitment to improving baselines over time.

Creating a Destination Team

A key requirement of the certification process was the formation of the Destination Green Team (GSTC A1: Destination Management Responsibility). For the first time in Ireland, a cross-sectoral team was created solely to focus on the destination’s sustainability – a groundbreaking approach that would set precedents for other destinations.

The team now comprises around 40 members, organized into smaller action teams within the Clare Sustainable Destination Action Plan. This includes representatives from Clare County Council across departments such as Climate Action, Heritage, Environment, and Biodiversity. It also brings together the following stakeholders from the private and public sector through tourism networks and businesses:

  • Regional infrastructure like Shannon Airport
  • The Irish Farmers’ Association
  • Conservation agencies including Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service
  • Geological Survey Ireland
  • The Office of Public Works
  • National tourism authorities like Fáilte Ireland

This diverse coalition meets quarterly in person, with online engagement between scheduled meetings. Sub-teams then focus on specific items.

Tourist flow at the “Cliffs of Moher Experience” goes from vehicle to the visitor center to the Cliffs themselves. Courtesy County Clare

Evidence-Based Action Planning

One of the most valuable outputs of this collaboration has been the Action Plan supported by evidence-based indicators. The team actively submits gathered sustainability insights into broader policy documents such as Clare’s Climate Action Plan, Biodiversity Plan, and Heritage Plan. This cross-pollination of evidence helps embed sustainability in decision-making at all levels across the destination.

The approach represents a shift from isolated planning to integrated thinking – tourism sustainability becomes part of a broader conversation about the county’s future. This holistic view recognizes that sustainable tourism cannot exist in isolation from other aspects of community development and environmental protection.

Over the past three years, Clare’s certification journey has centered on building collaboration, establishing a Destination Green Team, partnering with ATU, and developing a robust evidence base through resident, visitor and enterprise surveys. Independently verified by a third-party audit, this work culminated in our destination certification that now informs the county’s Sustainable Destination Action Plan, implemented by the Green Team.

Additionally, our partners and colleagues continue to deliver meaningful actions across Clare to tackle issues presented by tourism. The Cliffs of Moher Experience team, for example, are piloting a way to ease traffic pressures this summer by providing a free shuttle bus linking the site with key locations elsewhere in the county.

Lessons from the Field

A major takeaway for the Clare team was the value of third-party certification as a structure for collaboration. Without it, convening such a diverse group of stakeholders would have been an onerous task. The certification gave purpose to the effort, offered a common language, framework, and direction that transcended individual organizational interests.

The team continues to evolve. New challenges continue to emerge, such as how best to achieve meaningful resident engagement (GSTC A5). In response, Clare is developing ways to integrate community feedback into its planning process, such as resident satisfaction indicators within the Action Plan.

Walking the Trail

County Clare’s journey toward a more sustainable destination continues. The following elements work together now to create a system that’s both accountable and adaptive:

  • Third-party verification
  • A destination-wide Action Plan
  • Multi-stakeholder collaboration
  • Commitment to evidence-based planning

The model emerging in County Clare demonstrates that sustainable tourism in rural landscapes calls for structure, transparency, and the courage to bring diverse voices together around a shared vision.

In a complex, rural landscape like this, sustainability isn’t just about protecting the environment—it’s about working together to protect a way of life. The lessons learned in Clare may offer inspiration for other destinations, proving that with the right framework and commitment, even the most challenging tourism destinations can find their way toward a more sustainable future.

And in that way, visitors to Clare will continue to hear whispers of the millennia at the Cliffs of Moher – the musical traditions of Ennis, ghostly calls of the past from the ancient stone forts of the Burren, and the sweet quiet of a serene lake at Lough Derg.

For more information:

Home page for our destination certification: https://visitclare.ie/sustainable/
Resident Survey results and dashboards: https://visitclare.ie/sustainable-resident-research/
Visitor Survey results and dashboard: https://visitclare.ie/sustainable-visitor-research/

About the Author

Fiona McKenna is the Sustainable Destination Development Officer at Clare Tourism Development DAC, subsidiary of Clare County Council.