FÁILTE Ireland met members of the Kerry tourism industry in The Ballygarry Hotel, Tralee on Friday about the Wild Atlantic Way.

It was all part of a series of briefings by the tourism body which were being held, with a special focus focus on the route.

The national tourism authority is seeking to step up its interest in the route with a mixture of further developments for the attraction and greater promotion of the route to key markets overseas.

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Last year alone saw the group invest over €10 million in rolling out the route which stretches from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale in County Cork.

Such investment instantly led to the the new attraction garnering significant interest overseas.

Over its first year in existence, Fáilte Ireland has been working to further develop the W.A.W and has made significant progress to date. A signage plan has been implemented for the entire route and all the directional signage along the route has been in place since the end of May 2014.

At the briefing Josephine O’Driscoll, Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, provided an update on the 2014 progress of the project as well as highlighting plans for the future evolution of the initiative in 2015.

Commenting on Fáilte Ireland’s plans for the year ahead, Ms O’Driscoll said: “The year ahead, 2015, will see the roll out of photo points and branding at all 188 Discovery Points along the Wild Atlantic Way including the off shore islands. This branding and interpretation phase will give us a greater ability to tell the stories of the Wild Atlantic Way to visitors and encourage a more meaningful engagement with all those who travel in the region.”

“With respect to Kerry, two signature discovery points – Bray Head on Valentia Island and the Blasket Centre on the Dingle Peninsula, along with some 31 discovery and embarkation points have been identified for development to encourage visitors to stop, linger and engage a little longer with Kerry’s vibrant heritage, culture and landscape.”