Caroline Boland

Associate, Republic of Ireland 

Experience

Caroline Boland has successfully developed cluster and destination development and marketing plans for regional, county and local destinations within Ireland such as the Dingle Peninsula, Beara Peninsula and Munster Vales; and is currently involved with the ongoing roll-out of Fáilte Ireland’s visitor experience development plans for Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way including the inaugural Skellig Coast VEDP.

She is involved in the ongoing programme of Fáilte Ireland’s Development of a Viking Experience focussing on the counties of Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow; and overseeing the management and implementation of the tourism development and marketing plan for the Dingle Peninsula.

Core skills and qualifications

A graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management, Caroline developed her career from hotel operations to marketing and sales leading to destination marketing and development. Her expertise comes from working at the front face of destination and tourism development on the west coast of Ireland having been voluntary chairperson of Dingle Peninsula Tourism for five years.

More recently, she has delivered the organisational development of the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance which is at the cutting edge of destination management organisation on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. She is a tourism mentor with Enterprise Ireland and sits on the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance’s Council, Dingle Chamber of Commerce and has been a member of the Destination Kerry Forum.

She has delivered position papers on projects such as KITE (Kerry Initiative on Tourism and the Environment), The Blasket Islands and Meitheal Chiarraí with Kerry County Council, and on cluster development on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way.

Specialisms

Caroline offers services in research, strategy, feasibility, cluster development, destination development and management, and mentoring in coastal and rural tourism. Key elements include facilitation, sales and marketing strategy and planning, training, product knowledge and itinerary development, bundling and packaging, communication, co-ordination and co-operation with local tourism destinations, groups and SMEs. Her key expertise is looking at potential tourism destinations and creating road maps for their development as a tourism destination, their visitor experience development, organisational structure, marketing and promotion.