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Towns in Tipperary failed to make the top 25 of the 2012 review, carried out by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI).
All towns reviewed nationally were rated on factors relating:- Car Parking & Costs, Restaurants and Public Houses, the choice of availability of Retail Stores, Safety, and Retailer Friendliness. REI stopped short of naming & shaming the ‘bottom 25′ of the 100 towns surveyed, instead breaking the bottom 75 towns and cities into second, third and fourth quartiles.
See how Co Tipperary fared, highlighted in RED:-
The top 25 towns and cities (See lists above) all had a balanced mix of trading retailers driving customer footfall, thus giving the towns and cities their individual character and personality. While this retail mix was deemed of importance, it was also clear that access to available car parking, at the right price, was also a major attraction for consumers, latter who are prepared to travel even long distances to towns which offer such values.
Two other statistics were also noteworthy:- (A) Better performing towns in this review had all competed successfully in Tidy Towns competitions, perhaps indicating that strong community spirit was vital to town centre growth. Westport for example, which came first, has won the Tidy Towns awards three times in the last ten years. (B) None of the towns which fared best have been exposed to significant out-of-town planning, thus confirming the need for commercial activity to be confined to Tipperary town centres.
Mr Keith Rogers, chairman of Retail Excellence Ireland, stated: “We need to demand our towns have the right ingredients with a suitable mix of convenience, grocery, fashion, health, eateries, public houses and entertainment to ensure citizens are engaged with their civic space and in turn they then support their local town.”
Mr Cormac Kennedy, chairperson of the REI Town and City Revival Committee, believes that the survey can act as a road map for all towns and cities to improve. Mr Kennedy stated “Ultimately, the report gives the feedback from each town’s shoppers and business community so their views should be taken on board. The availability of parking offering good value for money is an important factor for shoppers. In fact, shoppers will determine where they will go shopping purely on the basis of car parking facilities.”
This survey is the largest survey of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland and comprised discussion with 16,000 members of the public and business owners in the 100 towns listed.
So you hope that your third level student son or daughter, may pick up a few hours work during this summer season, that’s if “The Gathering 2013” takes off. Sorry to disillusion you folks but if you believe the latter then truly you need to read the full text hereunder, at least twice.
Our beloved Taoiseach has gone to the United States begging, well I suppose maybe begging is a bit too strong a word, he has gone to remind American investors that Ireland is still open for business. Our Enda of Times Magazine fame will address international key business people, you know the sort I mean, the equivalent of our Johnny Ronan, Richard Barrett, Sean Quinn and Sean FitzPatrick, latter who once boasted of having a large team of professional and dynamic employees, who make key decisions on a day to day basis, across a range of disciplines including: Health Insurance, Finance and Construction.
Enda will be visiting Philadelphia and Cleveland, speaking at a number of engagements, casually meeting with representatives of Irish communities in both cities, thus further promoting this animal called ‘The Gathering 2013.‘
Powerful I hear you say, in rather apathetic rural tones, residing as you do in Thurles “The town that tourism forgot.”
But my first hurried thoughts when I read this were “Has anyone got Enda Kenny’s mobile phone number, in a hurry to warn him” but then I thought “Stop the panic George, sure Noel Coonan or Allen Kelly are on the ball, and will have, by now, contacted Enda before he embarrasses them & Tipperary.”
” Of course, as you have probably guessed, I’m talking about the so called Thurles Tourism Map shown hereunder.”
“Ok, so what’s the problem with this new Thurles tourism map, I hear you yell ?” “Hold your whist a moment,” I now reply, “First we need someone to blame, so (A) Who printed this damned map and (B) and what halfwit idiot did they consult ?” Answer:- (A) Shannon Region Tourism and (B) No native of Thurles Town, was ever consulted that’s for sure.
When you view the map surely the immortal words of Blackadder (alias actor Rowan Atkinson,) will spring to mind : “Oh, God. Fortune vomits on our eiderdown one more time,” or maybe his phrase, “The eyes are open, the mouth moves, but Mr Brain has long since departed,” might be more appropriate.
Continue reading Tourism Providers Insist Map Of Thurles Be Destroyed
 The Source Theatre & Arts Centre The Source Theatre & Arts Centre here in Thurles Co. Tipperary are pleased to announce their new website, which has now been fully launched.
The previous layout has been completely redesigned with simplicity and ease of use with customers in mind, as well as the option for all clients, for the first time, to choose their own seat On-line. When customers activate the ‘Buy Tickets,’ icon they are directed into an interactive seating plan.
Customers can now browse all upcoming events by clicking ‘What’s On.’ & by clicking through on the scrolling images or checking out the highlights on the home page.
Events and offers can also be found on the notice board twitter stream and there is now an option to Like or Share events on Facebook, thus increasing networking information.
Couple of pieces of understandable good business ‘housekeeping,’ information, worth noting on this ‘The Source Website.’ :-
- All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges are allowed.
- The maximum amount of tickets that can be purchased per transaction on-line is 10, so for larger group bookings, please do phone (0504) 90204.
- Wheelchair users, do please phone The Source Box Office on (0504) 90204 to reserve your tickets, in the interests of public safety.
- Concessions will apply to Students, Recipients of Unemployment Benefit, Assistance or Disability Allowance, Lone Parents and Pensioners. (Valid ID understandably will need to be produced in all such cases.)
One very tiny criticism – Why not display a digital drawing of this fine theatre’s numbered seating arrangements, to enabling those less daring & less IT literate, booking by phone, to choose their preferred seat, – just a thought.
A new group of individuals interested in the future of Thurles have now decided, over past weeks, to establish a Marketing Group to continue to market Thurles as a possible future tourism destination.
 Thurles Tipperary The group are expected to focus initially on the Thurles International Hurling Festival, which has been held over the past two years, in the hope that they can assist in the further development of this Festival, thus growing it into something bigger and more attractive to both national & overseas tourists in the years ahead.
Fingers crossed, that this new Marketing Group will be granted the same financial support enjoyed by the previous Thurles Marketing Group, which decided to shut up shop in May 2011.
This previous organisation you will remember, which comprised members from North Tipperary County Council, Thurles Town Council, Tipperary Institute, Shannon Development, IDA, North Tipperary Enterprise Board, Leader Group and the Thurles Chamber of Commerce had been in existence for a number of years seeking to promote Thurles at home and abroad, but failed in most of its attempted initiatives.
The newly elected members of this Marketing forum are as follows: Colm Fogarty (Chairperson), Catherine Fogarty (Secretary/PRO), Jacqui Morrissey (Treasurer), Councillor Seamus Hanifan, Councillor John Kennedy, Michael Bowe, Noel Ryan and Rona Sorrell.
Persons wishing to make submissions to this Marketing Group are invited to contact them at Thurlesmf@gmail.com or via Telephone at 087 2701689.
We wish this new committee every success, at this time, in this new yet much to be welcomed local initiative.
 Tourist Guide “Destination Cashel.” Someone once said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The phrase is used to describe the persuasive power of numbers, particularly when the use of statistics is required in bolstering untruths and weak arguments.
Such is the case today, with Tourism Ireland welcoming the latest Central Statistics Office, Ireland (CSO) figures which show there was an eight per cent increase in the number of visitors holidaying in Ireland in 2011. Figures bandied about by RTE, Radio Stations and leading newspapers inform us that 6.6 million tourists came here in 2011 – that’s half a million more than in 2010.
“Great, fabulous, our economy is on the up, very soon we can pay our debts and recover our valued sovereignty,” you say, but the truth is less sensational and sobering.
These figures being bandied about today are a gross exaggeration. According to the (CSO) visitor figures for 2011, there were only 6505 million, while statistics for Overseas Visitors visiting Ireland since 2004 are recorded as follows:-
Year: 2004 – Visitors 6574, Year: 2005 – Visitors 6977, Year: 2006 – Visitors 7709, Year: 2007 – Visitors 8012, Year: 2008 – Visitors 7839, Year: 2009 – Visitors 6928, Year: 2010 – Visitors 6037, Year: 2011 – Visitors 6505.
See the figures Here for yourselves. Truth is we had 1.5 million less visitors here in Ireland, in 2011, than we had in 2007.
Tourism Ireland did not state that according to the same CSO (30th August 2012) they forecast that in the period May – July 2012, the total number of visitor trips to Ireland fell by 2.2% to 1,937,800, or an overall decrease of 43,000, compared to the same period in 2011. Trips in 2012 by residents of Great Britain to Ireland, over the same period, dropped by 6.8% to 746,200. The number of visitors from North America decreased by 3.3% to 347,600. Visitors from European Countries, other than Great Britain (Other Europe), rose by 2.1% to 723,600 while visitors from ‘Other Areas,’ increased by 7.6% to 120,400.
See their 2012 figures Here , so who does Tourism Ireland believe they are fooling.
Ireland has two State organisations, uniquely by European standards, involved in Irish tourism, namely Tourism Ireland & Fáilte Ireland, former involved in international marketing, while the latter is involved in home marketing.
Fáilte Ireland, state that there were 6.24 million overseas visitors to the Republic in 2011 and they spent a total of €3.16 billion. The previous year there were 5.95 million visitors and they spent €3 billion, while in 2009 there were 6.58 million visitors and they spent €3.4 billion. Project director of The Gathering, Jim Miley, states that a more conservative estimate of a ‘per-person spend,’ is probably justified given that many of those who respond to ‘The Gathering Message,’ will be staying with family or friends.
A budget for tourism of €5 million has been sanctioned for this year, by Varadkar’s department, in order to promote the idea of “The Gathering Ireland 2013,” and it is expected a similar amount of public money will be spent on the project next year. However one fact is definite, little or none of this funding has been spent to market Thurles & North Tipperary.
Like the man said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
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