BECOME A DARK SKY CHAMPION! 
FREE Professional Training in Belmullet and Westport (see below)
Places limited, booking essential!
This February 2025, Mayo’s tourism and hospitality sector has the opportunity to encourage staff to become Dark Sky Champions. Hosted by the team of Mayo Dark Sky Park / Wild Nephin National Park, this training is focused on optimising this growing form of sustainable tourism. This unique potential for local businesses to benefit from Mayo’s dark sky destination status, comes hot 
on the heels of being awarded International Dark Sky Place of the Year Award 2024 
.
These morning, half-day workshops will be delivered in two locations: Béal an Mhuirthead (Belmullet) on Tuesday the 11th of February and Westport on Thursday the 13th of February. An expert from Dark Sky International, Dan Oakley, will be in Mayo especially to deliver this training.
You will gain knowledge on 
:
¾ why dark sky places are attracting top travel trends in tourism,
¾ how to make your premises dark sky friendly and reduce light pollution (without compromising safety) 
¾ why dark sky places are essential to our ecosystems 
¾ useful visitor resources for stargazing and astronomy 
Attendees will receive a certificate of completion and guidelines on how to make their premises dark sky friendly and for dark sky tourists.
Applications are now open: (https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx…).
If an error occurs or you can’t secure a booking please contact mayodarkskypark@npws.gov.ie
Becoming a Mayo Dark Sky Champion is a fantastic way of protecting and restoring Mayo’s Night skies for future generations. By working together, we can actively reduce light pollution and contribute to County Mayo’s bid to become a Dark Sky Reserve. Together we can Carpe Noctem!