Sustainable & Responsible Tourism

Tourism in Belmullet means improving our area in relation to tourism e.g. helping new & existing businesses, facilitating improvements to infrastructure, providing training & upskilling. Essentially, we want to make Belmullet & Erris a better place in which to live, to work and to visit.

Everything that we do is at the heart of the community’s best interests. Our community, our environment, our culture, our language and our heritage comes first.

The environment & wildlife is vitally important to us and we are keen to promote its beauty to visitors, but we are also mindful of keeping the balance between usage & unsustainable usage.

The ethos of responsible tourism and sustainable tourism is defined within the Visit Belmullet brand, as it depends entirely on developing tourism that maximises the benefits to the local community & minimises the negative social or environmental impacts, while also helping to conserve our culture, our environment, our wildlife, our language and our heritage.

How visitors can help…

There are lots of ways in which you can make your stay in Belmullet & Erris more eco-friendly. Here are just a few ideas:

• Stay longer

A good way to reduce the effects of your journeys is to make fewer of them and stay longer instead. Do you really need an excuse to stay in the wild & wonderful Erris for an extra day or two?!

• Stay somewhere eco-friendly

Eco-friendly does not mean luxury-free! There are some beautiful places to stay in Belmullet & Erris, that save energy, support local businesses, and are forward-thinking.

• Be responsible

While you’re enjoying Belmullet & Erris, please respect our environment. Keep your dog under control to help keep our livestock safe. Dispose of litter correctly or take it away with you and remember to ‘Scoop your dogs poop’! And please don’t disturb our wildlife or pick our flowers & plants.

• Explore Belmullet & Erris by foot or by bike!

Hiking and cycling have low environmental impacts. Also, you will cover a lot more ground, and are more likely to discover our hidden gems, if you walk or pedal!

• Zip around in an electric car

If you’d like to bring your electric car to Belmullet, there is a public electric vehicle charging point in the car park of the civic centre in Belmullet town. Please drive safely and remember that you are sharing our roads with cyclists, walkers and, very often, wandering cattle and sheep!

• Experience Belmullet & Erris during different seasons

Indeed, summer is a lovely time in Erris, but it can be quite crowded at times. Why not consider visiting Belmullet & Erris at a quieter time of the year? Hear the birds sing in springtime, observe the amazing autumn colours, or surf the wild waves during winter!

• Learn something new

Help to keep our heritage alive by learning how to talk as Gaeilge (in Irish) or by learning a traditional craft.