Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre, Now OPEN

ziedth

Still though,

I got a few quid from the states a few months ago and it was like 1.42 when I exchanged it to €'s now it's like 1.22 IIRC, that is a nice jump for anyone coming over here.

AdMMM

Try 1.18. It's sickening

ziedth

^ oh ya sure your heading over too Vegas too aren't ya?

I got my dollars when it was like 1.30, ah just think of all the money you'll be winning at the tables and you'll be happy it's so low

looksee

Went into the cafe in the Crystal this morning, luscious cakes and a good cuppa. While I was there there were maybe 6 or 7 coachloads of tourists already there or arrived in the 15 minutes I was there. The place was hopping, and looked great.

Asmodean

Its going to be smasing for the tourists (no pun intended) to come out of it and be straight on the mall looking across at city hall, theatre royal, christchurch etc

Straycat

Straycat wrote: »

has anyone else noticed in the black fronted part of the build, closest to la palma, there is stenciling on the glass and the signage of House of Waterford crystal, but the O in waterford is dropped a bit. its really noticable (to me anyhow) i checked on the other building and its not so its not a design thing. in fact the A in waterford on the sign in the main section is a bit gimpy to look at. not as noticable as the O though

did anyone else not notice this? its driving me crazy when i pass (kinda like having to fix croked pictures in strangers houses!)

Dan133269

Asmodean wrote: »

Its going to be smasing for the tourists (no pun intended) to come out of it and be straight on the mall looking across at city hall, theatre royal, christchurch etc

There are guided walking tours starting outside the new Waterford crystal and going around reginald's tower, greyfriar's, christchurch, bishop's palace and city hall. They're on 7 days a week as far as I know

jayboi

Has anyone any idea what the city is getting back from the lease on the place? Not to sound hungry or anything just wondering how it help the city purse other than the knock on effect.

Bards

jayboi wrote: »

Has anyone any idea what the city is getting back from the lease on the place? Not to sound hungry or anything just wondering how it help the city purse other than the knock on effect.

increase in tourists spending will lead to shops not having to close and may find otheres opening which will enable them to pay rates to the city council council. also the CIty council is on the top floor of the building so less money wasted on an empty building and they got brand new offices out of it.

Does the building not add to the City Centre and clean up the whole area thus making it attractive

Psychedelic

jayboi wrote: »

Has anyone any idea what the city is getting back from the lease on the place? Not to sound hungry or anything just wondering how it help the city purse other than the knock on effect.

I assume the visitors centre will pay commercial rates and water charges to the Council like every other business in the city, unless the Council agreed to waiver these charges.

next

Dan133269 wrote: »

There are guided walking tours starting outside the new Waterford crystal and going around reginald's tower, greyfriar's, christchurch, bishop's palace and city hall. They're on 7 days a week as far as I know

I think it would be hard to beat the walking tour given by Jack Burchael

next

the Mall looks great just hope the buses don't make a habit of coming across by St Delans school its bad enough down there

AdMMM

I was trying to figure that out. The space outside the center is obviously for set-down only for the coaches. The buses aren't going to cut across a lane of traffic to get into and out of this set-down area which means they will have to go around the block. Beau Street is far too narrow which means they'll go along Catherine St, across Water St, down Park Rd and turn left at Lombard Street to go into the coach bay in the Bolten St car park. The tour would nearly be finished by that time!

dayshah

AdMMM wrote: »

I was trying to figure that out. The space outside the center is obviously for set-down only for the coaches. The buses aren't going to cut across a lane of traffic to get into and out of this set-down area which means they will have to go around the block. Beau Street is far too narrow which means they'll go along Catherine St, across Water St, down Park Rd and turn left at Lombard Street to go into the coach bay in the Bolten St car park. The tour would nearly be finished by that time!

There was a lot of work being done at Waterside a while back. Anything to do with this?

Anyway, unlike with Kilbarry hopefully the tourists will stay for more than just the tour and get their lunch here too.

Just looking at the webcam now (I can't do a screenshot) there is a bus facing the wrong way (ie, it will need to cross a lane when it pulls out).

Dan133269

next wrote: »

I think it would be hard to beat the walking tour given by Jack Burchael

Think again, he doesn't have access to Greyfriars/French church or the undercroft underneath the motor tax office which has been recently restored, whereas the new walking tours by the Waterford treasures museum/Granary do! Also the new tours last longer and are more detailed than his!

dayshah

Dan133269 wrote: »

Think again, he doesn't have access to Greyfriars/French church or the undercroft underneath the motor tax office which has been recently restored, whereas the new walking tours by the Waterford treasures museum/Granary do! Also the new tours last longer and are more detailed than his!

That area of Cathedral Square is just screaming out for someone to open a café there.

Tourists in the summer and corpo workers for the rest of the year. It'd be a great stand.

next

Dan133269 wrote: »

Think again, he doesn't have access to Greyfriars/French church or the undercroft underneath the motor tax office which has been recently restored, whereas the new walking tours by the Waterford treasures museum/Granary do! Also the new tours last longer and are more detailed than his! [/QUOTE
True, but I would think his knowledge would be far greater, as for it being longer yes because they are spending more time looking at places then hearing about the history,
I thought it was run by Waterford Crystal ?

Bards

have a look here - some interesting info

http://www.waterfordbusinessinfo.ie/uploads/documents/news/DWC%20Newsletter%20May%202010.pdf

mike65

On rte radio right now

www.rte.ie/radio1

merlante

That's all we bloody need, two competing tours!

Burchael should be given all the help and assistance he needs, because he's been doing this since before anyone in official circles gave a damn about tourism.

anplaya

true but hes an annoying **** in my opinion.head up his own arse. its also really annoying the way he has the tours standing taking all over the footpaths etc and when ya try and go by the bloody americans look at ya like you have two heads like they own the fecking place and ya end up having to go onto the road to get by.he needs to tell them to be mindful of the local people too.

Psychedelic

merlante wrote: »

That's all we bloody need, two competing tours!

Burchael should be given all the help and assistance he needs, because he's been doing this since before anyone in official circles gave a damn about tourism.

Competition is what business is all about in fairness. Why should he have a monopoly on walking tours? Perhaps he was asked by the City Council to do those new walking tours and wasn't able or didn't want to? As far as I know the new tour is not trying to take away from his business, but rather complement it, as he can only do a certain amount of tours himself.

merlante

Psychedelic wrote: »

Competition is what business is all about in fairness. Why should he have a monopoly on walking tours? Perhaps he was asked by the City Council to do those new walking tours and wasn't able or didn't want to? As far as I know the new tour is not trying to take away from his business, but rather complement it, as he can only do a certain amount of tours himself.

Competition is great in a large, diverse and strong marketplace. This is a small, fragile market with two players in it, with the scope for an embarassing feud that results in bad publicity for the city and bad blood in general. And when one of the players is public and the other private, the state could potentially be sued for driving a legitimate business man out of business. If Burchael jacks in the tours (excuse the pun), Waterford tourism will be in a worse place for it, and that's a fact.

Competition is not the cure for all the world's problems. The public tour would want to be complimentary. I believe he has other people doing the tours as well, so it's not just a one man show anymore.

robtri

damn... i looked at this thread to read about the new waterford centre which looks great by the way.... and we talking about two dudes feuding over walking tours..... feck way for a thread to go off track

dayshah

Does anyone know of any increase in bookings in hotels or group bookings for the Glass?

Just curious how successful it will be. There has been a lot of hope placed in it so I hope it will come off well.

mike65

Morning Ireland was big in Waterford this morning, I can't remember the last time RTE was so interested in us.

Arsenal1986

merlante wrote: »

Competition is great in a large, diverse and strong marketplace. This is a small, fragile market with two players in it, with the scope for an embarassing feud that results in bad publicity for the city and bad blood in general. And when one of the players is public and the other private, the state could potentially be sued for driving a legitimate business man out of business. If Burchael jacks in the tours (excuse the pun), Waterford tourism will be in a worse place for it, and that's a fact.

Competition is not the cure for all the world's problems. The public tour would want to be complimentary. I believe he has other people doing the tours as well, so it's not just a one man show anymore.

The new player in the market operates only in the City Centre, Jack still has all the tours with the Coaches - going up the Comeraghs etc. The competition is only in part of his business. Having worked in the tourist industry in Waterford for 5 years, I can assure you that in the Summer there is certainly enough business for two operators in this area. Its a wonder someone hasn't set up to rival him before. Once the summer is over, there is a big drop off in business but thats okay as Jack will have the market to himself again then. These new walking tours are a great thing for Waterford.

By the way, I think Jack is an excellent tour guide, a real personality and would always highly recommend him. I've also been very impressed with the new Tour guides also. There is no loser in this situation, Waterford is the winner here.

Arsenal1986

mike65 wrote: »

Morning Ireland was big in Waterford this morning, I can't remember the last time RTE was so interested in us.

Great to see, its ridiculos how much much Waterford is ignored by the media.

Arsenal1986

Dan133269 wrote: »

Think again, he doesn't have access to Greyfriars/French church or the undercroft underneath the motor tax office which has been recently restored, whereas the new walking tours by the Waterford treasures museum/Granary do! Also the new tours last longer and are more detailed than his!

Didn't realise they had access to the Undercrofts -that's excellent. Hopefully alot of Waterford people will go see these, really interesting place to see.

Hoffmans

so is it open or closed today ?

just passed by saw security guy turn away an native looking family who were obviously interested in goin in for a look

funny thing was three suits sluggin wine out of oversized glasses nearby fiddling with their blackberries some elitest cermony in progress not suitable for the jo so's i take it me lord...

1 question where do the emissions from the manfacturing plant go ?
since theres a major cancer cluster all about the surrounds of the old facility out the cork road..........