Cordial Tourism marketing

On a recent Heineken trip to the Leinster vs Clermont Ferrand match in Clermont Auvergne the incoming rugby supporters were welcomed on arrival by a Clermont Auvergne tourism reception at the local airport.

The reception pointed out the features and attractions of the locality to a backdrop of its finest produce food-and-wine-wise. The tourism office had moved lock, stock and barrel to the airport of a Saturday morning to greet the rugby supporters in person. This struck me as both enthusiastic and a smart idea.

In these times of having to go that extra mile, it’s a fine example to the rest of us. Alas on enquiring whether Dublin Tourism provided the same sort of reception to our French and UK guests when they come here for their leg of the requisite rugger matches – or for the Six Nations – Dublin Tourism’s Press Officer informed me “…. Alas, no…. the cutbacks, budgets and all that…”.

In the present catastrophic fire-fighting mode of both government and private companies, I would have thought that now more than ever we should be pushing ourselves forward as a viable tourist destination to anyone and everyone visiting this country for whatever reason…. But equally “alas”, is anyone here really surprised that we don’t?