In Focus: Where is Leitrim tourism this year after the sector's busiest season

With the dust soon to settle on another summer, this week, the Leitrim Observer takes a look at how the tourist season has been in Co. Leitrim.

We look at how tourism has held up compared to last year in the county and what the main trends are in terms of why people are visiting the county.

Leitrim is part of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands in terms of Fáilte Ireland’s tourism strategy.

Some 670,300 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in June 2026, an increase of 2% when compared with June 2025 and no change compared with June 2024, according to the CSO.

In 2025, there were total tourism earnings of €11.2 billion recorded nationally, which underlines the importance of tourism to the country.

There are also 229,400 people working in the tourism sector nationally.

According to data from Fáilte Ireland, in the third quarter of 2025, there were a total of 3,250 bed spaces in Co. Leitrim. This accounted for 1% of the national total.

Neighbouring counties Roscommon and Longford also recorded similar numbers of bed spaces.

Sinead McDermott, Leitrim Tourism Officer, has a positive story to tell about this summer.

“Our office has been busy this summer, with an average of 80 visitors a day,” she stated. The office is based as part of the Barrel store on Bridge St. in the county town.

When tourists visit their office, the staff encourage people to visit attractions throughout the county.

“We would encourage people to go to places such as The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo and Glencar Waterfall,” Sinead explained.

“People want to see the county as a whole,” she added.

North Leitrim is attractive for people who are interested in walking or cycling.

“Fowley’s Waterfall, which is beside the Organic Centre and the ballroom in Glenfarne would be attractions in North Leitrim,” Sinead added.

Leitrim offers a more laidback type of holiday.

“Slow tourism is suited to the county. Multi-generations of families can participate in activities such as cycling and kayaking,” the Tourism Officer explained.

While North Leitrim has much to offer in terms of unspoilt landscape, accommodation in the area is scarce enough.

“There are a lot of Airbnb’s and self catering options available, but generally, there is not a lot of accomodation in North Leitrim,” Sinead stated.

She added that the tourist office are aiming to improve this.

“We are hoping to do a study on North Leitrim,” she added.

Sinead went on to say that Covid proved something of a gamechanger for tourism in Leitrim.

“Tourists in the domestic market discovered Leitrim during Covid when they had to take staycations. However, many of them have returned to the county since then,” she stated.

The Landmark Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon has become a well known destination for tourists.

The hotel, which has 49 bedrooms, has had a strong summer to date.

“June was a bit slow, but July was a fantastic month,” according to Sales and Marketing Manager of the hotel, Ciara Maxwell.

“This summer is in a par with last year,” she added.

“Tourists are not going to the usual big name destinations as much and are coming more to places like Leitrim. A lot of that is down to the Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands campaign by Failte Ireland and Leitrim Tourism, who done great work in promoting the county,” she explained.

There has been a strong mix of visitors, as Ciara explained.

“People staying with us come from many different countries. We have people coming from as far as Australia, New Zealand and Asia,” she explained.

People are staying in The Landmark for many reasons.

“We have hosted a number of family reunions, with 90 people attending one of those,” Ciara stated.

A recent trend for The Landmark is that of Irish people opting for staycations due to the extreme heat in mainland Europe.

Another, perhaps unexpected reason, for people to stay at the hotel has been Carrick-on-Shannon’s national success in the Tidy Towns competition in 2025.

“The Tidy Towns success has created a lot of tourism for the town. We have people staying in the hotel who are part of Tidy Towns Committees from around the country who want to see Carrick,” she explained.

Tourists who stay in The Landmark are keen to find out what attractions are around the county.

“People are enquiring about the rest of the county and looking for recommendations on what to do,” Ciara stated.

“We are spoiled for choice around Carrick in terms of amenities, with the likes of Lough Key Forest Park and The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo,” she added.

Staycations are also a strong part of the Landmark’s business.

“Domestic tourists are looking for a good deal,” she explained.

Challenges remain for the sector.

“Costs are a huge issue for this industry, particularly food costs,” Ciara stated.

The Landmark is also a major employer in Co. Leitrim. A total of 140 people work in the hotel, which includes seasonal staff.

“As well as seasonal work, there is also a career in hospitality for young people,” Ciara commented.

A smaller scale accommodation provider the Observer spoke to was also happy with how the summer has been going.

Pascal Gillard of Jinny’s Tearooms and McGuire’s Red Door Cottages, Drumshanbo, can report a positive summer. Pascal runs the businesses alongside his wife, Sinead.

The tearooms have been busy all summer, while there has been good occupancy in the cottages, according to Pascal.

The Red Door Cottages includes 7 houses – four 3 bed houses and three 2 bed houses, all available on a self-catering basis.

The cottages have been running since the late 1970’s. Pascal has seen a shift in tourist’s occupany in recent years.

“Traditionally, we would have the cottages occupied from Saturday to Saturday, with people staying for a whole week. Now, there are more people opting for shorter stays, even just for one night,” he stated.

“Centerparcs (based in Co. Longford) entering the Irish market and Airbnb have been factors in changing the number of nights people stay,” Pascal added.

While the summer season varies in the cottages, one week that is not showing any change is when the Joe Mooney Summer School is on (the long running event was held recently).

“When the Summer School is on, we have the same people coming back year after year. That week is unique for us,” he explained.

Spring is normally a busy time in the cottages, with many French visitors coming to the area for fishing season.

“During the fishing season, we would have three or four cottages filled with French people,” Pascal explained.

As the summers goes on, many of those who stay in the cottages are Irish.

According to Pascal, American tourists tend to be found more along the coast.

“We don’t have visitors from the US during the summer. They tend to travel along the Wild Atlantic Way and not come to Co. Leitrim,” he explained.

“Seven cottages is a lot to fill all week, but we have a good name and we have won awards,” he stated.

Compared to the summer season in 2025, the main change is an increase in bookings for the cottage for the last two weeks of August.

“The cottages are busy at the end of August compared to last year, when there were gaps in occupancy at the end of August,” Pascal explained.

Another shift this year has been an increase in people staying in the cottages who are escaping the extreme heatwaves of mainland Europe.

“We have had French people staying with us this year because of the extreme climate. In June, we had Swiss visitors who said that they couldn’t breathe at home due to the extreme heat,” he explained.

“People have also come from US to stay with us to escape the heat,” Pascal added.

Business in the tearooms is “growing every year” according to Pascal.

In addition to the tourists visiting the tearooms, Jinny’s also provide tours of their bakery for local secondary schools.

While Pascal has a good story to tell, challenges remain for the hospitality sector.

“The cost of energy and the cost of labour are challenging (they employ 20 people, both full and part time),” he commented.

“Better flight connections would also help,” Pascal added.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.