Independent People - A tourism ambassador

While there may be a global recession, the tourism industry locally is bringing one man home to his family, ending a daily commute that he has undertaken for the past five years. Drum resident Joe Kavanagh has just taken up the role of Group Sales & Marketing Director of the Hodson Bay Hotel Group and has plenty of ideas that are sure to help put the Midlands region firmly on the tourism map. A native of Buncrana, Co. Donegal, Joe has been travelling to Athlone for 15 years after meeting his wife Mary Mullin and five years ago the couple settled in Drum. Joe has become involved in a number of groups locally over the years and such is his love for his adopted home that he now considers himself a Roscommon man with a Donegal accent. Joe left his native Donegal in 1993 to study an arts degree in geography, anthropology and biology in Maynooth and has spent time working with Coca-Cola, Diageo, the Irish Independent and most recently Carzone. Joe and Mary moved to Athlone in 2007 and since then he has been commuting to Dublin where he worked as Digital Sales Manager with Carzone. Explaining this week that he thoroughly enjoyed his job in Carzone, Joe said he had to be sure that moving to the Hodson Bay Hotel Group was the right decision for him and his family. "In moving from Carzone to here I had to perform a due diligence on the company to see whether it was the right move and I was really impressed with how they had protected themselves. Foresight and planning is essential in the hotel industry. They read the situation correctly and protected themselves," he said. Joe added that he has always had passion and belief in the companies he has worked for and it is important for him to have pride in being able to say where he works and this is also the case with the Hodson Bay Hotel Group, which he explains makes a huge economic contribution to the area and has in the region of 500 employees, similar to a mid-sized multinational. He added that the hotel group is also conscious of the support the Hodson Bay and Sheraton hotels receives from the local community. Being from Donegal, which has a much higher tourist profile than the midlands, Joe is all too aware that tourists want the whole package when booking holidays - good hotels and restaurants, quality service, activities and entertainment. In this regard he believes there are a number of untapped resources around Athlone and that there is huge potential to grow the area as the Lakelands district of Ireland. Highlighting the importance of marketing the area, Joe said: "I was surprised with the numbers coming to Athlone just because of the group's marketing. There is the potential to market the Lakelands as a destination and the capitalise on Obama's and the Queen's visits here by putting together packages." He added that guests of both the Hodson Bay and the Sheraton bring revenue, not only to the hotels, but to the Athlone area and he is in favour of a joined up approach to tourism between operators in the area. Joe explained that packages could be offered to incorporate hotel breaks and activities, such as golf, water activities at Baysports or a trip on the Viking boat and said it's important to create synergies to attract tourists to the area. "There was a 7% growth in Irish tourism in 2011. This bodes well for the region," said Joe, adding that he believes this trend will continue. He added that the area is now being marketed as the Lakelands of Ireland to German coach tours and said this was an untapped marketplace with significant potential. In relation to the Sheraton, Joe said the strength of the Starwood brand can be used to attract overseas visitors, bringing them to a hotel that has an international brand behind it. Having a background in digital media, most recently as Digital Sales Manager with Carzone and previously with the Irish Independent's property website, Joe is conscious of how digital media and social networking can be used to market the hotels and what the area has to offer to tourists. He would like to see videos of the area and people's video reviews of the hotels and the area used to market the locality to tourists. "71% of North American internet users have used a video sharing site," he explained. "Coming from a digital background I think we can capitalise on it to make it experiential for the customers so they can get a feel for the area before they get here." Acknowledging that while there were many positives for the tourism industry at present, there were also challenges, Joe said that it is his belief that quality will win out in the end. He said margins in the hotel industry are very tight at present and the key is to deliver a good quality service while also maintaining their margins and costs. However, being a positive thinker, Joe prefers to focus on the up sides and said that as a blow-in to Athlone he is extremely conscious of the resources in the locality, such as the town's long history and location along the longest river in the country. "The people are also a resource that can't be undervalued. There's a real can-do attitude among Athlonians," he said. Having moved here five years ago with wife Mary and two children - Mary-Jo, who is five, and Fabian, who is a year and a half - Joe has made Athlone his home and is now looking forward to getting to know even more people in the area since taking up his new role with the Hodson Bay Hotel Group. He is relishing the challenge of his new job and has plenty of ideas that will not only help to attract tourists to the area, but are sure to keep locals entertained too, such as music festivals and artisan markets.