‘Ambassadors’ to welcome visitors in tourism revival

AN innovative new tourism project is planning on making Dublin the only city in the world where locals will literally queue up to welcome visitors.

Launched yesterday, City of a Thousand Welcomes offers tourists the opportunity to meet like-minded locals and tap into valuable insider knowledge.

The project is hoping to use Dublin’s reputation for offering a warm welcome with a format that makes sharing a pint or a cuppa with a Dubliner a certainty, rather than a hope, for thousands of tourists each year.

From June 16 next, people from all over the world will be able to meet with our Dublin Ambassadors over a free drink or a cup of tea in three great Dublin institutions: the Merrion Hotel, Bewley’s Café and the Porterhouse. Between now and June the project organisers hope to recruit 1,000 volunteers to sign up as Ambassadors.

When the service starts operating, a tourist could end up enjoying a pint with someone who shares their profession or hobby — or even one of the well-known Dubliners who have already signed up, such as Victoria Smurfit, David McWilliams, Bill Cullen, Graham Knuttel, Mario Rosenstock, David McSavage, Rosanna Davison and even Presidential candidate, Senator David Norris.

Director of the new project David White said it would bring tourists and locals together at no cost in a structured way.

“We’re celebrating Dublin as a place where tourists receive a warm welcome, and where culture extends to good conversation. We are doing this for the benefit of visitors, of course, but also to re-invigorate Irish hospitality and encourage civic pride at a time when Irish identity has taken a bit of a bashing,” he said.

If people wish to become ambassadors, they can sign at cityofathousandwelcomes.com, by taking a short Dublin- themed quiz and completing a questionnaire.

The sponsors of the service include Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council and Dublin Regional Authority.

City of a Thousand Welcomes will be headquartered in the Little Museum of Dublin, a new people’s museum that will open on St Stephen’s Green this summer.