Smart technology is being used to monitor sustainable tourism on islands in the North West and West.
The study will measure the effect of tourism on islands, such as economic value, environmental impact, waste and water management, energy usage, access and transport, carbon footprint, and the social and cultural impact.
The Atlantic Technological University are collaborating with a total of six islands across the North West and West including Arranmore and Tory Island in Donegal.
The data collection began this week using smart technologies and will continue until the end of the tourism season.
The ATU will host the data of the research on an open-source online database that is currently being developed to facilitate the dissemination of the data output. With the support of Fáilte Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta and the various County Councils, the ATU intends to conduct this research on an annual basis and to extend the data collection to more islands off the Irish coast from 2023.
