Drawing a Destination Out of the Shoreline

The Dublin Coast has so many ingredients of a strong destination: dramatic sea views, UNESCO-protected nature, seafood, heritage, easy access to the city, and a string of distinctive coastal communities. But beyond plenty of appeal, it has lacked a key element – coherence. That is the challenge at the heart of the Dublin Coast Destination and Experience Development Plan (DEDP), developed by Group NAO.

Over a ten-year horizon, the DEDP is to shape a shared vision for the Dublin Coast as a coherent must-visit destination with a unique blend of coastal charm, natural beauty, and year-round life, while clarifying what local communities and stakeholders want tourism to actually do for the place. To get there, the work combines strategic analysis with close attention to how the coast is actually lived and experienced. The process is grounded in local voices and community engagement, on-the-ground observation, and direct immersion across the coastline, to build from the coast's existing rhythms, relationships, and realities.

Four clear themes have emerged through the engagement. First, an operational need for more collaboration, coordination, and shared brand thinking. Second, an experience opportunity to move towards higher-quality visitor experiences rooted in stories, food, hospitality, and local distinctiveness. Third, a connectivity challenge to make the coast easier to navigate and experience as one destination through stronger links and routes. And fourth, a local pillar that ensures tourism strengthens, rather than erodes, the everyday life and village feel that make the coast special in the first place. The final plan, coming up later in 2026, is to translate these insights into a long-term destination vision, which drives the Dublin Coast to become internationally recognised destination not by becoming something new, but by connecting its unique places, stories, and experiences into something stronger than the sum of its parts.