How to attract tourists!
Ask yourself these questions. What if you have got plenty of fine restaurants and bars, marvelous mountain walks, outdoor actvities, wonderful weather (tongue firmly in cheek - it is Ireland)? How do we attract visitors to our town? Who's responsibility is that? Is it governments and local authorities? Is the responsibility of local business and entrepreneurs to invest in providing the facilities for people who visit?
We think the responsibility lies with us all. Join in our campaign - ALL IN TOGETHER - We all have a part to play in making our town and local area an attractive place for people to visit. Think of when you go on holidays - your destination may have stunning beauty, exquisite food and even beautiful weather. Even with all these things, what ultimately defines our experience is how we were treated by the people and not just the hospitality workers - did they make us feel welcome, were they friendly and helpful .
We need to have an ALL IN TOGETHER community based approach. We need business and the community to be sharing information about visitors and events . It is in the interests of local business to encourage this community spirit for their own benefits and for the benefit of the community as a whole financially and socially.
Imagine this scenario - we knew as a community that a group of tourists were coming to our area. What sort of creative and energetic welcome could we give to our guests? Let us say they were arriving to have their dinner in one of the local restaurants and a few people had time to spare to take these people on a brief walk around our wonderful promenade and park. We have no doubt that this group of visitors will tell their friends at home and on the social networks of their experience. They will want to return because of the fond memories of what they have seen but more importantly how they were treated by the local people.
Young people should be encouraged to get involved with their sense of adventure often matching that of the tourist. Being involved in this will hone their entrepreneurial skills to see opportunities to provide services and products and be contributing to the success of their town. They are the future.
The ALL IN TOGETHER apboard alone, this our collective responsibility.
There is no doubt that government has it's part to play by investing in tourism. We watch with some excitement, the official launch of the Wild Atlantic Way in the west of Ireland. This is being promoted as the world's longest touring route. We should be just as proud of what we have got on the east coast of our country and should take every opportunity to tell our story.
With our collective voice of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, each and every one of us has the opportunity to showcase our area of outstanding beauty and connect with people who might want to visit our town and area.
