The Promenade Festival in Tramore.

The award winning festival is back for a second year in July 3rd,4th,5th in Tramore.

The programme of events is set to wow audiences as the town gets ready to play host to 80,000 people over three days .

Mary Daniels, Commercial Director of the festival and Chairperson of Tramore Chamber says: “This year we have accelerated our efforts. The festival was very well received in 2014, and we are on a journey to make this one of the biggest family festivals in Ireland. The Tramore brand is strong , the local stakeholders are all thinking outside the box , engaging with the concepts we are bringing and as a collective community . I believe we have hit on something special with this festival.”

Keith Daniels, Festival Manager, says: “It’s going to be a great weekend ! This year’s festival highlights will include a Mini Airshow, Magic Street, Tramore Zoo and July 4th celebrations. An array of street performers and spectacles ,a welcome zone by the railway building that will bring you back in time to old time Tramore that’s only a flavour of what’s going to be on offer – the rest is under lock and key until our launch. ”

Tramore is the only place you need to be this July 3-5th, be sure to tell your friends and family to save the dates and if they haven’t already , to book accommodation early. All bookings can be made on www.tramore.ie.

The plans for the summer festival are near completion and a full launch will take place in May.
For more information please visit : www.facebook.com/thepromenadefestival or www.thepromenadefestival.com.

Expressions of interests are now being taken for vendors /traders for the Promfest and those interested should email chairperson@tramore.ie for more information.

David McCoy, House of Waterford Crystal (left) pictured with a travel agent attending Tourism Ireland’s ‘Jump into Ireland’ (JITI) event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In all, Tourism Ireland’s ‘Jump into Ireland’ programme will visit 12 different cities in the US this year, targeting hundreds of influential travel agents and travel writers.

This sales blitz saw Tourism Ireland – together with a delegation of 11 Irish tourism companies and five American tour operators, including House of Waterford Crystal and Forever Happening South East – meeting travel professionals based in Atlanta, Charlotte and Tampa.

The busy schedule involved a 60-minute TV show format highlighting the island of Ireland, as well as networking sessions with travel and lifestyle journalists – providing an excellent platform to showcase and sell Waterford to important travel decision-makers in each city. Similar ‘Jump into Ireland’ events will take place in Minneapolis (Minnesota), Denver (Colorado) and Dallas (Texas), in September; and in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco (California), in November.

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America, said: “The United States is one of the most important markets for tourism to the island of Ireland and 2014 was a record year for American visitors to Ireland – when we welcomed more than one million US visitors, spending over US$1 billion. Tourism Ireland is determined to ensure that tourism growth continues; and 2015 has got off to a positive start, with the most recent CSO figures showing growth of seven per cent in visitor numbers from North America for the December 2014 to February 2015 period.

“Our ‘Jump into Ireland’ programme is an important element of our overall promotional activity in the United States for 2015.

“It provides an excellent platform to spread the word about the many great experiences that US holidaymakers can enjoy around the island of Ireland, including numerous events taking place this year – such as Yeats 150, ID2015 (the year of Irish design) and the Irish Open at Royal County Down.”

Irish and American partners taking part in the ‘Jump into Ireland’ sales blitz in Atlanta, Charlotte and Tampa include House of Waterford Crystal, Forever Happening South East and CIE Tours International.

It's understood that the Viking Triangle will form part of Fáilte Ireland's new tourism initiative for the East and South East of Ireland.

The Fáilte Ireland initiative, which is similar to the hugely successful Wild Atlantic Way in terms of scale and ambition, will be unveiled by Minister for Tourism Paschal Donohoe at the RDS.

According to Fáilte Ireland, the project will be “based on a journey through lands shaped by 5,000 years of history”.

The Munster Express understands that Waterford’s Viking history and Kilkenny’s medieval history will form important parts of the overall initiative.

Waterford’s omission from the Wild Atlantic Way has attracted much criticism throughout the past year.

Since its launch, the Wild Atlantic Way has been a huge success and has provided many economic benefits for coastal communities from Kinsale in County Cork to the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal.

At 2600 km (1600 miles) in length, it is one of the longest defined coastal routes in the world.

The launch of the new initiative for the East and South-East is taking place alongside Meitheal – the Irish Travel Trade Fair which is held annually each spring.

There was widespread support for the new organisation, which will mean more grant monies and supports can be secured for Tramore Tourism.

There was a message of support from city and county manager Michael Walsh for the new entity.

He noted that the Tramore Railway Station had now been taken over by the Waterford Council.

Mary Daniels was elected Chairman, Fergus Freyne of AIB will be treasurer, directors and committee members will be Derek O Sullivan, Paddy O Neill, Debbie Dooly, Frank King, Paddy O Neill and Alex Bolster. Frank King, who chaired the meeting said that they had put in new budgets that were fully costed and they looked forward to the community with optimism.

Events and plans for the coming year were outlined such as the Prom Fest, where there are ambitious plans. The St. Patricks Day parade had proved successful in the town.

Keith Daniels referred to an ambitious programme for Prom Fest, where additional funding for promotion has been received from the council. Last year visitor numbers reached 30,000 and this year the aim is to attract 70,000 visitors. An Air Show is planned with 6 planes confirmed.

Sean Corcoran, artist and events man, will be assisting in the event from an arts view. The Prom will be partly closed off during the Prom Fest in early July.

Other events planned are a scooter event, bass fishing, fireworks at end of August, the highly successful Christmas Carnival, also a new event at Halloween.

Keith mentioned that they plan a Halloween event with scarecrows outside businesses and other special attractions.

Tramore Tourism got great support from volunteers and were praised by the attendance at the meeting.

Catherine Keighery backed up the call that Frank King made about supporting one another in business. Frank said that people and traders should pull together more and build up the town’s business and even pay a little extra if needed.

Nicky Donnelly CEO of Waterford Chamber of Commerce spoke of the association with the newly established Tramore Tourism Chamber and how he noted that they were working well with the council and how there was a new collaborative role between the new merged council and business groups. Tramore has a good working model now which will develop prosperity between Tramore and Waterford and that the future is positive.

Mary Daniels, as Chairman stated that the new structure would build a framework for the future.

Their plans for the railway building were ambitious and had been submitted to council. The event plan was also ambitious, but added that they had been to Westport and saw how well they were doing. In Westport they work together and do much cross selling.

The new national tourism marketing slogan for Waterford is “Waterford Where Ireland begins” and as Mary put it Tramore is where the fun starts!

The Wild Atlantic Way has been successful let us hope this is too.

The All-Aboard Inclusion Playpark is one of many projects recently completed in Tramore.

Officially launched at their inaugural AGM on Tuesday, March 24th, the new entity, formally known as Tramore Tourism, will work to ensure better representation for the business community in Tramore, in terms of job creation, lobbying and economic growth in the years to come.

Speaking at the AGM, Mary Daniels, who was elected as Chairperson of Tramore Chamber of Tourism & Commerce said: “The focus will be on furthering the tourism product and advancing economic development for Tramore. I believe this group represents the interests of the wider Tramore community in a better and more progressive way.”

More specifically, a plan has been outlined for the next two years, which will see the organisation focus on some key areas, namely growing the events calendar to allow the business community to network and share ideas.

“Events add colour, showcasing the best of our resort. They drive the rich visitor traffic and we need to create a better visitor experience in high season in order to increase return rates in the off season. Last year, as Tramore Tourism, we presented the Promenade Festival and The Christmas Carnival, amongst others.

Tramore Chamber of Tourism & Commerce also intends to expand the programme of events and work on this front has already started”, Mary concluded.

Other strategic priorities include continuing and building on the existing partnership with Waterford City and County Council to improve the profile of the area. The All-Aboard Inclusion Playpark has just been completed by the group and further projects that will add to the offering of Tramore, are sure to enhance the area.

The renewal of the town centre is vitally important and key to improving footfall. As a result, Tramore Chamber of Tourism and Commerce will be making every effort to engage with retailers and consumers to ensure an abundance of incentives are in place to drive the ‘Shop Local’ campaign.

Tramore Chamber of Tourism & Commerce is accepting new members and all details can be found by calling 051 508027 or visiting www.tramore.ie

Waterford Airport Chief Executive Desmond O'Flynn, who is encouraged by the early bookings for the VLM Airlines services to London-Luton and Birmingham, which commence on April 27th.

Commenting on the very positive reception that the announcement has received, Mr O’Flynn stated: “The resumption of a London Luton service from Waterford Airport with VLM Airlines as well as the continuation of the Birmingham service also with VLM, both starting on Monday, April 27th, have been very encouraging with early bookings looking very positive. We are looking to the people of the region for their support to ensure rapid and sustainable success.”

Mr O’Flynn added: “Air connectivity is hugely important to Waterford and the surrounding south east region.

This has been underlined time and again by inward investment and economic development agencies.

“Similarly, both services will be a key driver for incoming tourists from the UK, especially at a time when the Eurozone is particularly attractive to UK travellers. For those from the southeast taking a city break, the great world city of London is once again readily accessible. The arrival of VLM Airlines is very significant to Waterford Airport but also to the wider community that we serve.”

Those travelling on business to the greater London area should take advantage of the double daily services on Mondays to Fridays from Waterford with the morning flight leaving at 7:30am and returning from Luton at 6:40pm, allowing a full day’s work in London.

“These double daily services can also be used to advantage by companies receiving visitors from the UK, though it would be great to encourage all such visitors where possible to stay overnight in the Waterford area.”

Weekend travellers from the Waterford area into London have a choice of a late Friday afternoon service, a Saturday morning service and then a late Sunday afternoon return flight to make the most of the weekend in London.

The Birmingham route will be operated four days a week on Mondays, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays.
Bookings on the Waterford-London Luton and Waterford-Birmingham services can be made through www.flyvlm.com.

The Celebrity Silhouette, with 1500 crew and a capacity for 2850 passengers, will drop anchor off Dunmore East on Saturday, June 13th and Thursday, August 13th.

Five of the visits shall see ships berthed on the city’s North Quay, the Port of Waterford at Belview is set to receive four passenger vessels while Dunmore East will accommodate eight cruise ships, and tourists aplenty!

The season begins on Tuesday, May 19th when the Ocean Diamond (250 passengers, 100 crew) docks on the North Quay, while the Sea Adventurer (122 passengers, 77 crew) will arrive at Dunmore East on May 21st.

On Tuesday, May 26th, the 90-metre long Island Sky (118 passengers, 78 crew) arrives on the North Quay (it shall return on June 18th) while the Seven Seas Voyager (700 passengers, 451 crew) will dock at Belview on Monday, June 8th.

On Saturday, June 13th, the 315-metre Celebrity Silhouette (2850 passengers, 1500 crew) makes the first of two summer visits to Dunmore East, the other being on Thursday, August 13th.

June will be the busiest month of the cruise season, with four vessels anchoring at Dunmore, with two respective sailings each due into the North Quay and Belview.

Two cruise ships are due at Dunmore in July, namely the Crystal Serenity (1096 passengers, 655 crew) on the 27th and the Marina (1258 passengers, 800 crew) on Friday, July 31st.

In addition to the Celebrity Silhouette, the Voyager (556 passengers, 215 crew) and Silver Cloud (296 passengers, 222 crew) will dock locally in August, on the 27th and 29th respectively.

The final cruise ship of the tourist season shall arrive at Belview on Monday, September 14th in the guise of the Black Watch (820 passengers, 330 crew).

The Port of Waterford, now under the Chairmanship of Des Whelan, is the fourth largest port in the Republic.
The Port can, as Mr Whelan told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, “cater for ships of up to 4,000 tonnes and 190 metres in length. Ships carrying loads of up to 20,000 tonnes are common and ships with a draft of up to nine metres can be catered for either side of high tide. The port is currently served by a twice-weekly container vessel service to Rotterdam, via Dublin and Cork”.

Addressing the Committee on September 17th last, Mr Whelan stated: “Waterford Port has the full support of Kilkenny County Council and Waterford City and County Council, along with other key public and private sector stakeholders. There is no doubt that a thriving port can facilitate economic recovery in the south east while benefitting from increased overseas trade.

“The Port of Waterford depends on imports and exports and, like many businesses in the south east, it was severely affected by the recession. Turnover peaked in 2008 at €12 million and revenues are now at half that figure.

“Waterford Port made a loss from 2009 to 2012 but following a major restructuring, which saw staff numbers reduced from 49 to 27, the port made a profit of over €900,000 in 2013. This compares to a loss of €1.2 million in 2012.

“Tonnage through the port of Waterford in 2013 amounted to 1,430,000 tonnes and the port’s share of the bulk market in Ireland increased last year to three per cent.”

Mr Whelan added: “The port does face many challenges. It carries a substantial pension deficit, which now stands at €7.2 million. That has reduced over the past three years from €10.9 million.

“Following the storms of (January and February 2014), dredging costs (have) doubled for 2014 and 2015. The port must also replace its current CEO, Stan McIlvenny, who retires (this year) and it is to be hoped that the remuneration package will allow a high-quality successor to be secured.”

While not having the deep water city centre berthing advantages which the ports of Dublin, Cork and Belfast can boast of, one would expect the new Chief Executive, when appointed, to work closely with Mr Whelan and the Board when it comes to boosting cruise visits.

This season, Dublin Port will accommodate 82 passenger vessels during the traditional April-September tourist season, while Cork is scheduled for 54 cruise arrivals. Belfast, in the midst of a tourism boom, is due to host approximately 100 cruise ships this year alone.

Dermot Keyes

Irish Hotels Federation

Commenting on the launch, Aidan Quirke, Chair of the South East branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) stated: “The Government’s continued strong focus on tourism is of critical importance for the many thousands of tourism businesses throughout the country, including hotels and guesthouses in Waterford.

“The tourism strategy announced is a welcome recognition of tourism’s potential to continue delivering much-needed jobs growth.”

Aidan Quirke said hoteliers in Waterford are looking forward to working with the Government to achieve the targets set out in the tourism strategy, including plans to grow overseas visitors to 10 million per annum by 2025.

This would increase annual revenues from overseas visitors to €5 billion and result in an additional 50,000 jobs for the country, bringing total employment supported by the sector to over 250,000.

“Thanks to a number of pro-tourism initiatives, the industry continues to act as an engine of employment growth – both nationally and throughout the South East,” said Mr Quirke.

“The nine per cent VAT rate, in particular, has been of enormous importance to the industry, helping to level the playing field for tourism businesses when competing with international destinations for visitors.

“It continues to create much-needed employment across the country with 70 per cent of Irish hotels and guesthouses planning to take on additional new staff over the next 12 months.”

Mr Quirke noted the increased sense of optimism in the tourism industry as it continues to grow market share and attract growing numbers of overseas visitors.

“Our industry has significantly upped its game on the marketing front in recent years, with targeted programmes from Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland achieving strong cut through in reinvigorating our tourism brand and Ireland’s image as a holiday destination.

“We have, without doubt, become more imaginative in developing our tourism product and in giving holidaymakers new and compelling reasons to visit.”

Pictured at the Ocean Hotel on February 12th were, from left: Yvonne Byrne (Rural Development Consultant), Marie Flynn (Dunmore East FLAG Committee) and Stephanie Sheehan, Tús employee with FLAG.

The development of a more deep-rooted and sustainable tourism sector in Dunmore East was one of the key findings which emerged from the ‘Turning The Tide’ survey, which was published just under a fortnight ago.

The survey forms part of a project that WIT’s Peter McLoughlin hopes will put “the village at the cutting edge of change and to extract the maximum amount of jobs from such a change”.

And with 64 per and 63 per cent of respondents respectively calling for the addition of further festivals (and eco-tourism events) along with the development of a permanent tourism office in the village, it’s clear that tourism has a role to play in boosting the local economy.

No less than 20 different tourism ideas for Dunmore were referenced by respondents (with a sample size of 178 applying to this issue), with the development of a car park in the lower village topping the list, with almost 70 per cent identifying the need for such an amenity.

The next nine ideas on the survey as identified by respondents were (in the following order):
* Development of the Coastal Path
* Cycle patch along the Estuary
* Map and information boards for tourists
* Promotion of historic sites
* Maritime Museum and cafe
* Eco-tourism/whale and mammal boat trips
* A Marina
* A seafood bar selling fresh fish and wine (which one respondent noted: “We have that already”) and a
* Maritime education/heritage centre.

According to Dr Yvonne Byrne, who analysed the findings of the survey: “Parking came up as the biggest issue, particularly when it comes to the three busiest months of the year each summer from a tourism perspective, as did road works, quite strongly.

“In terms of walking trails, it’s clear that people value the further development and marketing of the coastal path, the walk through the woods, etc, which were identified as great assets for the area.

“And the idea of connecting to other communities long the Estuary, be that by foot or on bicycle was also brought up by many respondents, and given how walking and cycling have become increasingly popular in recent years, this is certainly an idea worthy of further and serious consideration.”

Acknowledging that ‘adventure tourism’ has been developed well in Dunmore East, Dr Byrne feels the success of the Adventure Centre provides local proof, developed over several years, that a worthwhile project can create a buy-in from residents and visitors alike.

As for what events or initiatives could be developed to promote and develop tourism, staging further events in Dunmore East, in addition to the Food and Bluegrass Festivals, led the way. This question was answered by 105 respondents, with the next five areas identified all breaking down pretty evenly in terms of respondents views, namely: aqua tourism, parking, traffic management and public transport, village and coastal walks, heritage, as well as additional hospitality and leisure facilities.

“Holding events at different times of the year was seen as having considerable potential when it comes to attempting to extend the tourism season as it currently stands.”

As for the development of yacht facilities in Dunmore East, Dr Byrne admitted that this question elicited some “mixed views”, including the following comments: “There is a target audience for this in Dunmore but I am unsure as it may take the ‘little’ beautiful village and turn it into something bigger.”

Wrote another: “I am unsure as it would potentially have an impact on the fishing sector. It would have to be considered when developing. Wouldn’t the pier need to be dredged before this was considered?”

Another respondent noted: “No problem with a boat dock as long as it is realised that although tourism is now the main income to the village, it is the fishing industry that should be developed firstly.”

However, of the 106 respondents who replied to this question, almost 65 per cent were in favour of such a development.

“There should be a boat building company/training facility based within the harbour,” said one supporter.
“At the moment, the sailing season runs from June to mid-September (three and a half months). With a good marina, this could be extended from Easter to the end of October (i.e. seven to eight months.”

Another advocate noted: “A visiting boat dock/marina is a huge opportunity for Dunmore as there is little in this regard between the UK and Cork. This could generate a lot of high value tourism.”

A third supporter wrote: “Sounds like a good idea. If it attracts more boats, people and money, then it should be a winner.”

Interestingly, tourism operators ranked seventh in the eight sectors listed under the survey’s eighth question: ‘Which groups do you feel require more supports in Dunmore East?”

The eight groups, listed in order of preference were:
1: Fishermen, 2: Youth, 3: Unemployed, 4: Small Business owners, 5: Families, 6: The Retired, 7: Tourism Operators and 8: Other.

Branding of the area, both from a tourism and product-related perspective, was also referenced by survey respondents, said Dr Byrne, feeding into the concept of capitalising on Dunmore’s marine produce, which we reported on in last week’s edition.

“I think a lot of people in the locality feel that there is something special about Dunmore East but that as things stand, the village is being somewhat under-marketed,” she said.

“With that in mind, I feel respondents feel we ought to capture this through promotion of the village’s fish and tourism products.

“This follows on from work already undertaken in this area by both WIT and the FLAG group on branding, and the village is fortunate that such a body of work has already been done and provides a foundation for future development on that particular front.”

A public consultation process is now being undertaken by the survey’s feasibility team, headed by WIT’s Peter McLoughlin ahead of the publication of a draft report next month and it’s envisaged that that report will seek to establish a five-year plan for the village.

The showroom at House of Waterford Crystal.

During a recent progress report to the Metropolitan District by the Waterford Viking Triangle Trust, Chairman Brendan Cummins said there was undoubtedly a need to further add to the area’s tourism offering, to entice visitors to stay longer.

However Mr Cummins said huge advances had nonetheless been made in the area. “Seven or eight years ago, the area was foreboding and neglected”, he noted.

Trust CEO Fiona McHardy outlined the growth in visitor numbers to the House of Waterford Crystal – to 180,000 last year. Attractions such as the Kite Design Studio, the Bishop’s Palace, the Medieval Museum and Reginald’s Tower were increasingly adding to the draw factor in the area, she added.

Ms McHardy acknowledged that car parking was an issue for visitors, while various public realm issues – such as lighting and paving – were being addressed by the Council as funds became available.

The Trust is also allowed a subvention in the region of €85,000 to €100,000 from the city, which covers the initiative’s marketing effort.

Metropolitan Mayor Lola O’Sullivan (FG), paid particular tribute to the welcome ambassador programme within the Viking Triangle for ‘giving people a sense of ownership’. The Mayor said she had great admiration for people who gave up their time for this voluntary programme.

Responding to a query from Cllr Davy Daniels (Ind) about how to increase visitor numbers, Mr Cummins said the 2017 programmes of bus tours was currently being compiled and Waterford’s Viking Triangle would be on these.

“We didn’t have the ability to have all our ducks in a row two years ago, when the current programmes were being put together”, he said. “But we are there now.”

Mr Cummins said he would welcome further discussion with Cllr Blaise Hannigan (Ind) about the possibility of locating a maritime museum in the city.

Cllr Pat Fitzgerald (SF) welcomed the news that a new marketing proposition for the region – similar to the Wild Atlantic Way – would soon be launched. This will encompass the south east coast and will be launched in April, the meeting heard.

The campaign will have six ‘headline propositions’ based around history and culture, including the Rock of Cashel, Clonmacnoise and Waterford’s Viking Triangle. Cllr Sean Reinhardt said it was essential that all ports and airports were targeted to promote the Viking Triangle.

Cllr Eddie Mulligan (FF) called for increased connectivity between the Viking Triangle and other areas of the city. Mr Cummins said future plans included linking the Triangle with the redeveloped North Quays and possibly an interest in leisure tourism on the river.