Boom town chat
Dublin Tourism
Dublin Tourism Centre, Suffolk Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
E-mail: info@dublintourism.ie
Web site: WWW.visitdublin.com
(UK-based enquiries, tel: Irish Tourist Board, 0171-493 3201, or 00 800 668 668 66 for all-Ireland accommodation reservations.)
l In 1998, Dublin had more than three million overseas visitors, who spent £550m.
l Greater Dublin's population is 1.5 million.
l The overseas visitor mix to Dublin includes 50% from the UK, with most of the rest coming from either Europe or North America. They run the gamut from budget travellers to those staying in the city's de luxe hotels.
l Although Dublin's main market is as a short-stay and repeat destination, average length of stay in the city by overseas visitors is 5.6 bednights. This compares with a European average of 2.5 bednights.
l Dublin has seen the number of bednights double in the past four years.
l Although occupancy in the city fell last year to 71% from 76 % in 1997, achieved room rates held steady and hotel stock continues to expand. Thirty new hotels are expected to open in the city within the next two years.
AS I eat out several times a week for work, I walk to and from home. I live three miles away. My diary is kept free from 9am to 10am and this lets me catch up on admin. More importantly, it lets me have coffee with my three department heads so that we can exchange information. Only once a week do we have a formal agenda.
I spend much of the day looking at media opportunities. This is the most effective way of encouraging prospective visitors. No two days are the same and it can mean, for instance, meeting at 11am with the other five regional tourism managers from around Ireland. Then we compare notes and co-ordinate strategies so that we deal with the visitor experience on a similar basis.
Dublin Tourism also runs several visitor attractions so I might have to liaise at noon with their managers to make sure they are hitting their budgets and following their marketing campaigns.
Visitor numbers to Dublin have doubled in the past five years and, while that would feel great if I stopped to think about it, I never do. I'm always thinking about the next five years and how we'll fill all the hotels. The level of business now is so phenomenal that new hotels are tearing up their business plans within one month of opening because the demand is already there.
It makes it easy for them but I fear it's a recipe for disaster. I wonder how long it will stay like that.
Until recently, we had only Irish hotel companies operating here, apart from Forte. Now we've got Stakis, Radisson, Ibis and Holiday Inn. And Westin and Four Seasons are both planning on coming in. But we are getting development ranging from budget inns to de luxe and designer townhouses, so it fits our span of visitors.
The idea of a bed or tourist tax died last year and our tourism minister has suggested a £3 airport arrivals tax if the industry endorses it. That would still be lower than in most other countries.
I still think there is huge potential for international business growth here, and we're about to start building the IR£80m [£68.3m], 2,000-seat Dublin Convention Centre near our Financial Services Centre.
For lunch at 1pm I might have some soup, or there is sometimes a business lunch to attend. I liaise with incoming tour operators all the time and we have just launched a new promotion video about Dublin on the Web.
Dublin has become so popular in recent years because of the cost and ease of getting here, and this has led to the opening up of so many direct air links. London-Dublin is now the busiest international air route in the world.
Through the afternoon, I sometimes meet with Bord F ilte, Dublin Corporation officials or more media people. It's a constant flow. There are often evening functions to attend such as the opening of a new theatre or a dinner for one of the airlines. That can mean I won't get to bed until 3am. But if I'm not working I leave early. And I always say to my staff: "Nobody will thank you for being here after 5.30pm." nrd is al
