Major marketing effort to woo tourists in 2003

AS hoteliers and all involved in tourism continue to count the cost of one of the wettest summers on record, one mecca is already planning ahead for next year.

Plans are currently being prepared that will see Waterford city and county promoted intensively in 2003 as a destination for both tourism and investment.

Waterford Tourism & Marketing, created earlier this year by the merger of Waterford Tourism and the Waterford Marketing Initiative, is chaired by Waterford Crystal chief executive John Foley. It will begin to raise funds in the autumn for a major advertising campaign next year that will be backed up by a major PR programme.

While conscious of the difficult tourism climate as well as the wider slowdown in the economy, Mr Foley is confident the taskforce can achieve tangible results.

“We are now consolidating our efforts to sharpen their focus. From September onwards, we intend to seek further public and private funding to allow us mount a sustained campaign of television and radio advertising in 2003 to showcase Waterford, while public relations and media work will also remain a key part of our strategy.”

The climate for attracting tourists and indeed inward investment is much more challenging than it was up to 18 months ago, he admitted. “However, our group - which includes some of the country’s most seasoned marketeers, people like Des Whelan, John Noonan, Paul McDaid and TV Honan - view this as a challenge and we are determined to redouble our promotional efforts,” said Mr Foley.