From Hillwalk Tours to Outsource Locker: Repositioning skills of a tourism business during COVID-19

Original Webinar: 14.5.20

 

Hillwalk Tours is a multimillion-euro digital tourism business based at Galway Technology Centre that sells around 3,000 self-guided walking tours a year globally. Established in 2008 by James Byrne, smart digital marketing tactics have helped the business to grow year-on-year. 2019 was its most successful year in business but the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the company’s existence, wiping out all projected revenue for 2020 and leading to several unavoidable job losses. While they wait for the tourism industry to recover, Hillwalk Tours has established a digital marketing agency called Outsource Locker.

Hear how the internet helped Hillwalk Tours to become an industry leader and how the experience of the in-house Hillwalk Tours team in building a business online will now help and support other companies that might not have the time, resources or skills to focus on digital marketing.

Additional insights into the challenges faced by the tourism industry will be provided by Kenny Deery, CEO of Galway Chamber. Kenny has a strong background in Business and Community Development, Innovation and Tourism and has been a board member of a number of organisations in the community and tourism sectors in Mayo and Galway. Throughout the current Covid-19 Crisis, he has worked to strengthen, support, and provide a voice to all the businesses in Galway trying to navigate throughout these challenging times.

 

 

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