Limerick’s street ambassadors help 15,000 visitors

LIMERICK’S pioneering street ambassadors helped more than 15,000 visitors this summer.

The roving tourist guides encountered sightseers from more countries than ever before, they claim.

The majority of tourists came from the USA and France with a sizeable number from Spain, Britain and Germany.

Over the past 12 weeks, the street ambassadors also helped almost 2,000 Irish visitors and hundreds of local people in Limerick.

Jean Ryan, ambassador leader, said: “We were delighted with the response we got from tourists this year, despite the weather. They really appreciated having a friendly face tell them which were the best places to visit, eat and shop. We also supplied all the Limerick hotels every week with a full events guide of what was going on in the city. And local people now see us as a friendly face who can offer help.”

Jean Ryan said that the tourists she spoke to would like to have spent more time in the city.

“A lot of visitors, especially those who were on bus tours felt that they didn’t have enough time to appreciate what Limerick has to offer. They said they would definitely come back again,” she said.

Dressed in Munster red, the street ambassadors are a familiar sight on the streets of Limerick during the summer season.

They have helped more than 40,000 visitors to the city since their introduction three years ago and the concept has since been copied in Dublin. They have also been keeping an environmental watch on the city by reporting litter offences, graffiti and property defects to Limerick City Council.

The Limerick Co-ordination Office spearheads the scheme which was funded by Shannon Development and the private sector this year.

Eoghan Prendergast of Shannon Development said: “Limerick has a very good reputation among visitors as a friendly and accessible place and our street ambassadors enhance and reflect that. Their presence makes a visit here stand out and tourists get help and information from those who love Limerick and have pride in the city.”

Limerick Co-ordination Office chairwoman Kay McGuinness was delighted with the feedback from visitors and hoped the private sector would now come on board to fund the 2009 scheme.

“Local businesses are very supportive of the initiative,” said Ms McGuinness.

The 12 street ambassadors included Polish newspaper correspondent Magda Sudol, who enjoyed her second successive year as an ambassador.