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.