New Sales Development Support announced for Food, Drink, Tourism and Hospitality businesses in County Carlow

Press Release for Immediate Release – 9th June 2021

“Growing the Customer for their return journey – New Sales Development Support announced for Food, Drink, Tourism and Hospitality businesses in County Carlow”


Carlow County Council’s Local Enterprise Office in partnership with Carlow Tourism today launched the Sales Development Programme for County Carlow Food, Drink, Hospitality and Tourism businesses - to help them entice and welcome back their customers and optimize their revenue for the second half of 2021.

Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council, Tom O’Neill launching the programme said “I welcome this new sector focused Sales training programme announced for Food, Drink, Tourism and Hospitality businesses which will help County Carlow companies chasing their share of mind and share of wallet in the domestic and tourism market this year”

For the first time, this year the programme will be funded at 100% by the Local Enterprise Office and Carlow Tourism with each company place valued at €2,000 for each business that participates in the training.

Speaking about the benefits of the programme , Kathleen Holohan, Chief Executive of Carlow County Council said: “Sales skills are vital for every business, and that’s never been truer than now - as our valued tourism, food and drink, and hospitality businesses emerge from lockdown. Without an effective sales strategy and the skills to deploy it, a business is destined to fail - or at least fail to recover strongly. Carlow businesses know that they have a lot of ground to make up quickly, in a highly competitive market. This training support has been developed to give them the boost they need and help them turn things around. We are committed to helping every Carlow business return to productivity and profitability this year”.

Past attendees have rated the Sales Development Programme programme very highly. Speaking at the conclusion of last year's programme, Aisling Maher, Marketing and Strategy Manager at Carlow's Woodford Dolmen Hotel, said: “This was an excellent course for our business! We found new ways to attract and sell to our discerning customers, and we established sales goals in the business that we are confident about meeting now that lockdown is lifted. The three trainers have different specializations and years of experience, which brings unique value to the training. We also saw huge benefit from the "continued learning" that took place during the coaching sessions. I strongly recommend this programme to other businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors".

Commenting on the supports available from the Local Enterprise Office, Maria Couchman , Economic Development said “The funding, training and mentoring we offer enables Carlow businesses to get on the road to recovery and the Sales Development Programme is just one of the services we can deliver. We urge businesses to contact us and let us recommend the programmes that are right for them. That’s what we are here for!”.

Speaking about the benefits of the programme Elaine Bradley-Ryan, Managing Director of Ideation Marketing said, “The Sales Development Programme offered by Carlow Local Enterprise Office, is designed to transform the businesses that participate. It has been hugely impactful for the businesses who participated in prior years. 100% of last year’s attendees rated it as excellent, and highly recommend the programme for other SMEs.

In collaboration with Carlow Local Enterprise Office & Carlow Tourism we will concentrate the programme on food, drink, tourism and hospitality sales this year. This sector has been hardest hit by lockdown, but that also means they have the greatest opportunity to benefit from the programme - regardless of whether they are targeting consumers or businesses in their strategic planning.

This is a multichannel sales programme, but in recognition of the seismic shift in consumer behaviour towards online “looking and booking”, we’ll share the digital sales strategies that every food, drink, tourism and hospitality business should have in their toolkit. My team and I look forward to supporting Carlow businesses in their recovery this year, and we can’t wait to get started!”.

The programme will commence in June 2021, and continue through October 2021. The full schedule of Local Enterprise Office training and events is available at https://www.localenterprise.ie/Carlow/.

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For further detail contact Maria Couchman on 086-8383734