Waterford Tourism, Ireland

UpTheDeise.com Waterford Tourism Letter
Published in Waterford Today and News & Star in May 2005

Dear Sir/Madam,

As a proud Waterford citizen, I am delighted to see the way things are going in the city with the lovely work being carried out on Michael Street and the look of the place in general. It really is a city to be proud of! The other day, I walked from O'Connell street to Railway Square and then back up Parnell street and down the Quay and I was actually taken aback I was so impressed with the place. It really is a fine place to live and work.

However, I wish Waterford people would appreciate the place a bit more and be a more positive and upbeat about it when speaking to others about the place. I run a website called www.upthedeise.com and we (the members) often encounter negativity from our own citizens about the place, but we always set them straight. I really cannot believe this, as you would never hear people from Galway or Cark talk about their homes like that. It is in our nature as a people to take the proverbial mick out of one another but when we take the mickey out of our own city & county to out siders, they will believe what we say as we are the experts on the subject!

Anyway, the reason I am writing this letter is to make a suggestion for all Waterford people during the Tall Ships Race. I believe in order to keep tourists in the Waterford area during and after the event, we need to inform people about what there is to do and see in Waterford. Instead of people sending tourists outside of Waterford we could send them to a number of beautiful and significant places in Waterford itself and maximise on their stay e.g.

- The Granary, Reginalds Tower
- Coastal Drive taking in a selection of the 30 odd beaches between Woodstown and Ardmore and beyond
- Visit Dolmens and Tombs e.g. Gaulstown, Knockeen
- Suir Valley Railway
- Kilmacthomas Viaduct
- Mountains (magic hill, com seangan, mt. mellary)
- Blackwater Drive, Lismore Castle, The Towers (amazing), Dromana Bridge
- Mount Sion Museum (founding place of the Christian Brothers')
- All the famous Pubs & Restaurants
- Hurling
- History e.g. oldest city, Irish flag first flown here, woodstown site etc.
- Tell them where to get the indigenous food (i.e. the blaa)
- Waterford Crystal factory
- The list goes on and on...

Waterford people need to be able to rattle off to them 5-10 things to do and see in the place. I think this could yield untold benefits for the city and county. I have been trying to drum into the members at www.upthedeise.com exactly the above but perhaps there could be a something the newspapers & radio stations can do to educate Waterford people about what is on offer. As I said even 5 things to rattle off to tourists would make all the difference and perhaps keep them here that bit longer and you'd never know, they may even return or better still, tell others about the fabulous things on offer here.

I believe Waterford is a very beautiful city and county and that it has everything tourists need to get a full impression of Ireland in a single visit. Waterford has it all: Beautiful City & Towns, lovely Mountains ranges, Beaches & coast, History in abundance and a whole lot more...

We are all in this together, perhaps collectively we can do some good for the Déise during this major international event,

Sincerely,

Wellboy
UpTheDeise.com Administrator