How to make Limerick more attractive to Tourists

Kernunos

So I am involved in the tourism sector here in Limerick and since yesterday the amount of tourists around has just dried up, like a tap that has just been turned off. There were so few tourists this year that the Tourist Office actually did not open on a Sunday for the entire summer, just was noone around. We got talking about what we could do to make the city more desirable, both during the summer and the off-season.

We have already gotten onto the City Council and they are going to remove the last section of the wall and fence outside the Tourist Office as well as trim the trees. It was a bit of a joke having drug-dealers and alcoholics hanging around the main hub for tourists, not the best impression. The new flowers around the place are nice, as is the new Thomas St/Bedfore Row area.

Other than that we are at a bit of a loss. Can anyone think of any low-budget alternatives that might work. There are a lot of eyesores around the city that we could do with completely removing but I dont see that happening until more money starts flowing into the city.

Jumpy

Only way to be sure.

It would get me too, but its worth the risk.














On a serious note, closing off the entire city centre to cars, having a nightlife "strip" rather than scattered, and a visible police presence would be a start.

Galway has this and its a cracking location.

krudler

Kernunos wrote: »

So I am involved in the tourism sector here in Limerick and since yesterday the amount of tourists around has just dried up, like a tap that has just been turned off. There were so few tourists this year that the Tourist Office actually did not open on a Sunday for the entire summer, just was noone around. We got talking about what we could do to make the city more desirable, both during the summer and the off-season.

We have already gotten onto the City Council and they are going to remove the last section of the wall and fence outside the Tourist Office as well as trim the trees. It was a bit of a joke having drug-dealers and alcoholics hanging around the main hub for tourists, not the best impression. The new flowers around the place are nice, as is the new Thomas St/Bedfore Row area.

Other than that we are at a bit of a loss. Can anyone think of any low-budget alternatives that might work. There are a lot of eyesores around the city that we could do with completely removing but I dont see that happening until more money starts flowing into the city.

As part of the tourism sector...isnt that your job?

This city just isnt tourist friendly, like was already mentioned the nightlife is too scattered, you hav Icon/Nancys/Flannerys all within a few feet but then every other half decent pub are a few blocks away, I dont mind but have you ever tried to get a gaggle of women to walk from the Chicken to Nancys? aint happening, they usually get a cab.

The river, there are 2 pubs which overlook it, The Locke and Clohessys, both at nearly opposite ends of the town, why doesnt the council give people more of a reason to be near the river? I love sitting outside one of them on a summer evening with a drink, we need more places like that.

Patrick St, demolish the whole thing, its an absolute eyesore, and its the first place a lot of people see coming into the city.

Whats with all the cheap, crap selling shops around these days? William St may as well be renamed the €2 shop street, and now theres one on Cruises st as well selling tat that nobody could possibly want. Cruises st used to be a bustling pedestrian shopping street, I was walking down it on Monday afternoon and I swear there were about a dozen people on the whole thing, shop assistants standing at the doors of places like Footlocker and River Island looking bored out of their mind as there was nobody around. The one and only reason I go into town these days is to meet friends or to pick up my medication prescription, everything else is in the Crescent.

Kernunos

krudler wrote: »

As part of the tourism sector...isnt that your job?

Ha, it is indeed. I should have been clearer though, we just office workers brainstorming while sitting looking at empty streets. We were thinking if we can get a few ideas we might try and pass them on to the movers and shakers. Was interested in seeing what other people might suggest.

Only started in the job before the summer and its odd how it changes your perspective of the city, keep trying to see it through the eyes of someone who has never been here before. As a Limerick native I agree about the need for an increased Garda presence. I have never had any trouble in the city but I would prefer to see the Guards at times other than St patricks Day and Christmas

munchkin_utd

as a tourist (i live in germany), the bypass is the best thing that happened with regard to Limerick for tourists.
No need to see the place ever again.

anecdote.....
There was a research conference in limerick back in 2000 and a colleague from the university here in Munich was over for it.
His mrs acomnanied him on the spin and on the first day they were there and whilst he was chatting with the academics, she went to the park and had a mini picnic.
Funny enough (for a city with a certain nick name) a wee knacker attacked his wife, took her cheese knife off her and threatened her looking for all her money.
Thankfully, when she woundn't do as he asked the young lad ran away.
No damage done except to the reputation of Limerick

anyhow,
if Limerick wants to improve its tourist prospects, it really needs to get a name for being a safe place, especially downtown.
Little scuts only thrive when they think they can get away with anything. The guards need to be on the streets and come down hard on anyone stepping out of line.

Amazotheamazing

Depends what you mean by cheap?

If you mean relatively free then maybe arrange a pub crawl of all the rugby pubs and brand it in some way with Munster, would cost nothing or next to nothing to set-up. A lot of tourists would just love a pub crawl, a lot of pubs would like the business (some wouldn't as it might annoy their regulars).

Another relatively cheap thing would be to publish a good, small guide to Limerick's history. Hell, even here a lot of locals are stunningly ignorant of the history to the place.
A small book which explained the history of the Hunt collection, the Custom house building, the Markets, Castle, the Cathedral, etc. How many people know about the time the french let Irish soldiers be slaughtered rather than open the castle gates, or that the English used the Cathedral as a stables, or that the Cathedral's tower was a gun tower or that Coffin ships left from where the Courthouse is etc.


Any really successful tourist town isn't one big idea, it's lots of little ideas working together.

munstergirl

Have a read of tripadvisor, lots of tourists opinions about limerick. Mostly negative, especially clarion steamboat quay.
Not negative about hotel, but about winos, junkies, beggars. And murder.

After reading reviews would you really want to come to limerick. We need to lock away all the scumbags.

Just back from a weekend in clare and plenty of tourists around.

dave 27

op iv often thought about this and came up with a couple ideas..

1. Lights on the cities main attractions, ie King Johns Castle etc



have lights like this on the castle, im not sure even if its lit up at all, if tourists see this at night they will deffinately want to pay a visit the next day

2. Boast about and utilise the new "market quarter", as this is Limericks answer to temple bar. the new milk market is not used all the time so why not use it for popular bands? imagine getting a few thousand in there?
also have festival flags going across the streets like this, that way, everyone knows this is an area of the city that will be expecting something at night time, if not just to make it look better!



where the market quarter is, in the limerick colours.

3. Festivals, we had the mardi gras and that went off so well, thousands attended and the city was buzzing, have more of these,something that tourists will want to look foreward to.

zuroph

The market quarter is going to be the closest you get to galway's quay street pub and restaurant experience. all those empty units, get em out rent free for cafes and the like, turn it into somewhere fun to go and wander.

plus, get someone to contact me about my zombie festival!!!!

Kernunos

I think the bad reputation the city has plays a big part in it. I spent a year traveling a while back and was taken aback about how many people had heard of Limerick, unfortunately it was mostly negative. Between the 'Stab City' moniker and the poverty/gloom described in Angela's Ashes not many seemed very attracted to the place.

A lot of the negative press comes from Irish people though. We have heard stories of tourists being told not to come visit here by Irish people, which would have been bad enough if it was just some randomer but the people giving the 'advice' were staff in tourist attractions around the country.

I think you are right about the river not being used enough as well. I had cause to walk the length of it from the scate park to Aurthors Quay park yesterday and it is woefully underused. Even the nice park sections there by Milano's and in front of the boat house had drunks hanging around.

Amazotheamazing

Kernunos wrote: »

I think the bad reputation the city has plays a big part in it. I spent a year traveling a while back and was taken aback about how many people had heard of Limerick, unfortunately it was mostly negative. Between the 'Stab City' moniker and the poverty/gloom described in Angela's Ashes not many seemed very attracted to the place.

A lot of the negative press comes from Irish people though. We have heard stories of tourists being told not to come visit here by Irish people, which would have been bad enough if it was just some randomer but the people giving the 'advice' were staff in tourist attractions around the country.

Agree, by far the worst tourist info comes from fellow Irish people who simply tell people not to come here. i met a good few people who knew of the reputation but who had never been here. Then again, is it any different than an English guy telling me not to bother with say Birmingham or Sheffield?

Mc Love

I think getting the beggers and scum off the streets is the first step, you cant walk far in the city center without getting asked for "some change bud" although they have new excuses these days "need to get the bus to shannon" and "need a bus to the travelodge"

Its a disgrace, the only way I can think is more police presence on the streets at night.

Marvel80

I am from Cork myself and lived in Galway for 6 years before moving to Limerick and I have to say there is a terrible attitude in Limerick. I cannot even go for a nice walk down the ennis road without some scut saying rude or ignorant comments as i go by. I really don't enjoy going into town on my own for a walk about as you feel as thou you are being watched. I totally agree that Patrick St could do with knocking down, it would get rid of all those empty old buildings and open up that area towards the market a bit more.

I drive home from work at 11 at night and always see a police car/paddy wagon or guards walking around the city so don't feel there isn't enough presence about, other cities apart from Dublin don't really have that much on every night of the week. The artists that have taken over much of the empty buildings have definitely livened up the city and give a good view to all those who walk around the city so i hope this is kept up.

In response to the issue of €2 shops they have re-opened one under the name of Kwik E Mart! I think that says it all that on one of the main streets this is what tourists see! There just isn't as much pride in Limerick as there should be and there needs to be a whole attitude change which starts in the Education System upwards.

I know this is a bit of a rant but I really don't enjoy Limerick as a city, I have met some lovely people in and from Limerick but the city itself really lets it all down and gives a poor impression to those just passing through.

Kernunos

Strange that you would mention a pub crawl. We had two guys in yesterday who were looking at setting one up that would focus on tourists and students, so keep an eye out for that.

One thing I think the city is also lacking is a back-packers hostel. During the summer there is one in Mary I but thats a bit outside the town. Other than that the cheapest is the Railway Hotel which would not appear in any guide that tourists would be looking at.

Mc Love

dave 27 wrote: »

also have festival flags going across the streets like this, that way, everyone knows this is an area of the city that will be expecting something at night time, if not just to make it look better!.

They do have the flags on O'Connell st and on the bridges though

Amazotheamazing

Kernunos wrote: »

One thing I think the city is also lacking is a back-packers hostel.

Definitely, but not exactly cheap to set up.

sleepyman

Marvel80 wrote: »

I am from Cork myself and lived in Galway for 6 years before moving to Limerick and I have to say there is a terrible attitude in Limerick. I cannot even go for a nice walk down the ennis road without some scut saying rude or ignorant comments as i go by. I really don't enjoy going into town on my own for a walk about as you feel as thou you are being watched. I totally agree that Patrick St could do with knocking down, it would get rid of all those empty old buildings and open up that area towards the market a bit more.

I drive home from work at 11 at night and always see a police car/paddy wagon or guards walking around the city so don't feel there isn't enough presence about, other cities apart from Dublin don't really have that much on every night of the week. The artists that have taken over much of the empty buildings have definitely livened up the city and give a good view to all those who walk around the city so i hope this is kept up.

In response to the issue of €2 shops they have re-opened one under the name of Kwik E Mart! I think that says it all that on one of the main streets this is what tourists see! There just isn't as much pride in Limerick as there should be and there needs to be a whole attitude change which starts in the Education System upwards.

I know this is a bit of a rant but I really don't enjoy Limerick as a city, I have met some lovely people in and from Limerick but the city itself really lets it all down and gives a poor impression to those just passing through.

Couldn't agree more with you on William St-was home a few weeks ago & it's such a kip.These threads seem to keep popping up every few months.
I'm coming to the conclusion that City Council just don't really give a toss anymore or choose to have their heads in the sands.I know there's a recession and money is tight but they could do a few things on William St:If every shopowner put a lick of paint on the outside it would help & if they stop allowing tacky euroshops open up-absolutely cheapens the place. I agree with the poster on using the market as a venue.
I'd also like to see an indoor multi-purpose venue-somewhere where there could be a music concert one week, an invitational tenis tournament the next, disney on ice the next.I know it won't happen now but it would get people into the city.
People come to Limerick because of a rugby game, concert, or pig and porter.We have to accept that people don't come to Limerick to see Limerick- they come because of an event.It seems a no-brainer to have more 'event's in the city like festivals aswell.
I think if the opera centre isn't going to happen then maybe some of the shops down in patrick st could be reopened.
We should probably be looking to see what Newcastle and provincial cities in England do to get tourists-maybe try and get more of the hen & stag party trade.I know it's not to everyones liking but it they fill hotel rooms and bars then is it so bad.

sleepyman

Marvel80 wrote: »

I am from Cork myself and lived in Galway for 6 years before moving to Limerick and I have to say there is a terrible attitude in Limerick. I cannot even go for a nice walk down the ennis road without some scut saying rude or ignorant comments as i go by. I really don't enjoy going into town on my own for a walk about as you feel as thou you are being watched. I totally agree that Patrick St could do with knocking down, it would get rid of all those empty old buildings and open up that area towards the market a bit more.

I drive home from work at 11 at night and always see a police car/paddy wagon or guards walking around the city so don't feel there isn't enough presence about, other cities apart from Dublin don't really have that much on every night of the week. The artists that have taken over much of the empty buildings have definitely livened up the city and give a good view to all those who walk around the city so i hope this is kept up.

In response to the issue of €2 shops they have re-opened one under the name of Kwik E Mart! I think that says it all that on one of the main streets this is what tourists see! There just isn't as much pride in Limerick as there should be and there needs to be a whole attitude change which starts in the Education System upwards.

I know this is a bit of a rant but I really don't enjoy Limerick as a city, I have met some lovely people in and from Limerick but the city itself really lets it all down and gives a poor impression to those just passing through.

Couldn't agree more with you on William St-was home a few weeks ago & it's such a kip.These threads seem to keep popping up every few months.
I'm coming to the conclusion that City Council just don't really give a toss anymore or choose to have their heads in the sands.I know there's a recession and money is tight but they could do a few things on William St:If every shopowner put a lick of paint on the outside it would help & if they stop allowing tacky euroshops open up-absolutely cheapens the place. I agree with the poster on using the market as a venue.
I'd also like to see an indoor multi-purpose venue-somewhere where there could be a music concert one week, an invitational tenis tournament the next, disney on ice the next.I know it won't happen now but it would get people into the city.
People come to Limerick because of a rugby game, concert, or pig and porter.We have to accept that people don't come to Limerick to see Limerick- they come because of an event.It seems a no-brainer to have more 'event's in the city like festivals aswell.
I think if the opera centre isn't going to happen then maybe some of the shops down in patrick st could be reopened.
We should probably be looking to see what Newcastle and provincial cities in England do to get tourists-maybe try and get more of the hen & stag party trade.I know it's not to everyones liking but it they fill hotel rooms and bars then is it so bad.

Mc Love

sleepyman wrote: »

We should probably be looking to see what Newcastle and provincial cities in England do to get tourists-maybe try and get more of the hen & stag party trade.I know it's not to everyones liking but it they fill hotel rooms and bars then is it so bad.

Been over to Northampton (munster trip) and it wasnt any better than Limerick (shops closed down/pound shops in most units) but also a place for visiting fans. There are a lot of towns in England like this so we arent alone in trying to deal with this situation

sleepyman

Mc Love wrote: »

Been over to Northampton (munster trip) and it wasnt any better than Limerick (shops closed down/pound shops in most units) but also a place for visiting fans. There are a lot of towns in England like this so we arent alone in trying to deal with this situation

I've heard that about Northampton.I mentioned it before that I think the city has come on but the Council could do more.Anyone know why it seems to take so long(and cost alot) though to demolish derelict buildings?

The regeneration people seem to make a song and dance about demolishing a few buildings in the troubled estates and you read the cost of it and wonder why it's so expensive?

Kernunos

I had a look at the Trip Advisor site for the place and it does not actually seem that bad

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186621-r46292525-Limerick_County_Limerick.html#REVIEWS

Most of the people there talk about how great the food and pubs were in the city, as well as the people. Good to hear i suppose.

keane2097

There are 5-10 people lying on the ground on O'Connell street, by ATMs and stuff, drinking and begging every time I've been on it for the last couple of months.

You just can't allow this on the main street of a small city - it just looks atrocious. These people - I'm sure they ave their hard luck stories so good luck to them and all that - just have got to be moved.

keane2097

Also, Guards on foot in twos just walking around a bit would do wonders for making people feel safer walking around Cruises street etc.

KerranJast

The first thing New York did to clean up its image was heavily enforce anti begging, drunk&disorderly and minor drug offences. If it means hiring some extra council staff, private security or having a small team of plain clothes Gardai regularly patrolling the main shopping streets then the pay off is worth it.

thesimpsons

The city ambassadors are a good idea but they aren't very visible. They should have a big sash across chest, or big printed lettering on back of jackets. Make them very visible to tourists.

Have free city centre tear off maps located at shop entrances - I've often seen tourists wandering around not even being able to locate the tourist office - other cities have these type of maps, highly coloured and sometimes with discounts for shops printed on side or reverse.

Look up at the buildings - the weeds and grass growing out of the tops of buildings is disgraceful, windows filthy, railings bad repair. Could city council grant a reduction in rates maybe to shops who show visibly that they have cleaned up their buildings?

extra gardai as well - always looks good in any city to have them wandering around. Can instill a feeling of security rather than feeling of terror.

also, instead of just hoarding around the works on Sarsfield and similiar types of sites, there should be large printed posters showing what the finished street is to look like.

keane2097

KerranJast wrote: »

The first thing New York did to clean up its image was heavily enforce anti begging, drunk&disorderly and minor drug offences. If it means hiring some extra council staff, private security or having a small team of plain clothes Gardai regularly patrolling the main shopping streets then the pay off is worth it.

Can't support this enough imo.

Amazotheamazing

sleepyman wrote: »

Couldn't agree more with you on William St-was home a few weeks ago & it's such a kip.These threads seem to keep popping up every few months.
I'm coming to the conclusion that City Council just don't really give a toss anymore or choose to have their heads in the sands.I know there's a recession and money is tight but they could do a few things on William St:If every shopowner put a lick of paint on the outside it would help & if they stop allowing tacky euroshops open up-absolutely cheapens the place.

While I agree the city should enforce better signage etc, there's been little point doing anything to William street until the work was ready to start on the street-scape improvements, afaik, this is happening over the next few months. The city couldn't do this until the tunnel was open due to the volume of traffic in the city.

Limerick city should have been fully bypassed years ago, we're still waiting for a northern bypass.

sleepyman

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

While I agree the city should enforce better signage etc, there's been little point doing anything to William street until the work was ready to start on the street-scape improvements, afaik, this is happening over the next few months. The city couldn't do this until the tunnel was open due to the volume of traffic in the city.

Limerick city should have been fully bypassed years ago, we're still waiting for a northern bypass.

I think they start in the new year.In fairness to the pedestrianisation/street improvements, it seems shop owners have made the effort to improve signange/paint their premises.The whole area around catherine st/thomas st & bedford row looks quite nice now.

Amazotheamazing

sleepyman wrote: »

I think they start in the new year.In fairness to the pedestrianisation/street improvements, it seems shop owners have made the effort to improve signange/paint their premises.The whole area around catherine st/thomas st & bedford row looks quite nice now.

Yeah, the Council have gotten that right, let's hope they get Sarsfield street and William street right now.

mitresize5

have to agree with the most common theme on this thread.

Get the vermin/beggers/junkies off the streets, actually add anyone wearing pyjamas or wearing a tracksuit with the socks rolled up at the bottom.

Limerick has huge social problems and unfortunately the city centre and by extension the lack of tourists is only an extension of that.

Acapella

The problem with Limerick is there is not one thing to bring people to the city. Look at the other cities, Dublin is obvious as its the capital, Galway has a great nightlife and quirky shops, and Cork has a great main shopping street with all the big international brands while also having the sidestreets for independents.

Limerick city centre is dead, plain and simple. They need to focus on getting shops up and running, attracting the big international players. I honestly believe they need to make Limerick into some shopping 'mecca', for people throughout the Mid-West to come here. The Opera Centre is a massive thing that really needs to happen asap and yes I know its a recession but dear god think of the citizens!!! The amount of scum going around town is quite prominent but at the same time is it because town is so quite that these people are becoming increasingly visible? Thats of course no excuse....I would choose to nuke the mofo's if it came to it :pac:

In the short term, they need to focus on Limericks strengths and the city council should be helping business' instead of hindering. We really have some great restaurants,pubs and the regenerated market quarter (for the love of god don't let it laying there idle!!) and its seriously underappreciated by the people in power. In terms of touristy things, is St John's Cathedral ever marketed to tourists? The place is obviously dripping full of history, its refurbished and v beautiful!!!

We are suppose to be the home of sport, why can't we link it into other areas. We have more strengths than Galway, the issue is we are seriously not using it to our advantage and the clowns that have been in power over the years hasn't helped!!

dave 27

Mc Love wrote: »

They do have the flags on O'Connell st and on the bridges though

no im not talking about those, im talking about the little ones like in my first post but only in the market quarter so that everyone knows where the limitations of the "quarter" is..

Mc Love

dave 27 wrote: »

no im not talking about those, im talking about the little ones like in my first post but only in the market quarter so that everyone knows where the limitations of the "quarter" is..

Thats a good idea in fairness. If that was limerick's "Quay st" it would be a hit I reckon, but first we need to enforce the no begger/homeless rule. If people stopped giving them money, how long would it take for them to leave? I was walking around last friday night and I have to say its intimidatiing if anything if one of these yobs comes out of the shadows "any spare change" | "gizz us a fag boss"

We all know where the money goes to (drink/drugs) if you want to help these people go into any of the fastfood/delis etc, buy a sandwich and give it to them - much better solution.

dave 27

Acapella wrote: »

The problem with Limerick is there is not one thing to bring people to the city. Look at the other cities, Dublin is obvious as its the capital, Galway has a great nightlife and quirky shops, and Cork has a great main shopping street with all the big international brands while also having the sidestreets for independents.

Limerick city centre is dead, plain and simple. They need to focus on getting shops up and running, attracting the big international players. I honestly believe they need to make Limerick into some shopping 'mecca', for people throughout the Mid-West to come here. The Opera Centre is a massive thing that really needs to happen asap and yes I know its a recession but dear god think of the citizens!!! The amount of scum going around town is quite prominent but at the same time is it because town is so quite that these people are becoming increasingly visible? Thats of course no excuse....I would choose to nuke the mofo's if it came to it :pac:

In the short term, they need to focus on Limericks strengths and the city council should be helping business' instead of hindering. We really have some great restaurants,pubs and the regenerated market quarter (for the love of god don't let it laying there idle!!) and its seriously underappreciated by the people in power. In terms of touristy things, is St John's Cathedral ever marketed to tourists? The place is obviously dripping full of history, its refurbished and v beautiful!!!

We are suppose to be the home of sport, why can't we link it into other areas. We have more strengths than Galway, the issue is we are seriously not using it to our advantage and the clowns that have been in power over the years hasn't helped!!

this can be put simply into one answer, a boundary extension.

Limerick is already a "shopping mecca", people come to limerick from all over the place to shop, only thing is its in the suburbs, in county Limerick.
Look at all the retail parks and shopping centres around Limerick and then look at town

Out of town shopping

Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre (Tesco)
Jetland Shopping Centre
Ennis Road Retail Park
Roxborgh Shopping centre
Childers road retail park
Parkway shopping centre
Crescent Shopping Centre
Parkway Retail park
Parkpoint retail park
Castletroy Shopping Centre
Delta Retail park
City east retail park
Eastway retail park

Under Construction..

Parkway Valley (second biggest in Ireland)

the list goes on..

Town

Arthurs Quay
Cruises St
Bedford row

I think this says it all, Limerick is a shopping mecca, we dont need half the amount of shopping centres but everyone is going to them as opposed to town so town is empty on the best of days

KerranJast

dave 27 wrote: »

Under Construction..

Parkway Valley (second biggest in Ireland)

We'll have cured cancer, achieved nuclear fusion and mastered interstellar space travel before that white elephant ever gets finished. 90% of it will have to be torn down as the walls are well and truly wrecked from the weather at this stage.

Mc Love

Also in most of the shopping centres, you wont be hassled for change or a fag!

zing zong

the very first thing, as a lot have said here, is to get rid of all the junkies begging EVERYWHERE, its a farce

more cops, and not just 2 or 3 lads walking as fast as they can to get back to henry street. i mean a good 8 to 10 cops at any one time spread out over the city centre, and not enroute anywhere, BASED as their post in the city centre (yeah, even if its raining :rolleyes:)

one of the biggest "attractions" were have is the castle, but there's several problems with it.
1) its on nicholas street, its a bloody disgrace. a good 80% of the street is vacant, and even the parts that aren't, the WHOLE lot of it is run down and filthy, there's weeds growing on the street for feck sake!!!

all of these vacant shops/houses should be used as info centres, little museums, and restraunts selling REAL trad Irish food (and cheap prices) and gift shops (not tacky poundshops mind)

whatever cant be filled should at least get painted up and made to look good.

2) the castle itself ( i wont get into how crap the "shed" attached to it looks, theres a thread going for that)

but the castle should be FREE at all times to enter, this will attract more tourist and even locals, what people save paying in, they will spend in the surrounding shops/restaurants = all good for limerick

3) I know this will annoy limerick history fanatics BUT the visitors centre is plain boring, its relevant and needs to be there, i personally like it, but to the majority of tourists it can be boring, and you'll breeze through it and never go back. there needs to be themed shows there, all the time, much like they have at bunratty, the whole thing and staff need to be dressed up and have a lot of themed events. this may be cheesy to some, but theres no denying that it would be great for tourism.


The HUGE UGLY SCRAPHEAP next to the clarion, i personally dont care that it hurts the clarion business wise, but more importantly it hurts limerick visitor wise, it needs to be sorted


all the empty shops that are half boarded up, they need to be attractively boarded up, just until things get better, we have one of the best art colleges in the country right there on clare street, i have no doubt that some of the students there would love a go at painting really attractive images on the boards ( FOR FREE) that can be used to cover up the ugly empty shops, you could even organise a competition as an incentive


use the river front move, a real genuine push for shops and pubs to face the river can only be a huge plus


RIVERBOATS! we have the canals, and the lakes near by, riverboat tours would be great



LOTS of free things to do, the castle and the hunt museum for example should all be free entry, the tourists will come for these, and will spend money on gifts and elsewhere in the city, its all good for limerick as a whole, and news of "free stuff" travels fast


run a competition or reward shops and pubs that present themselves the best, a good incentive for the lazy owners letting their businesses get run down, thus making limerick look run down


GRAFFITI ............seriously, there needs to be prosecutions, get them "gekko" lads to start with, the whole place looks ****e for tourists AND us, it needs to be dealt with


and one last time, SORT OUT THE JUNKIES AND ROMA HASSLING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, that alone should see a boost in numbers over time

Story_Bud

Its not like they want to be junkies or homeless . .

bigpink

Kernunos wrote: »

Strange that you would mention a pub crawl. We had two guys in yesterday who were looking at setting one up that would focus on tourists and students, so keep an eye out for that.

One thing I think the city is also lacking is a back-packers hostel. During the summer there is one in Mary I but thats a bit outside the town. Other than that the cheapest is the Railway Hotel which would not appear in any guide that tourists would be looking at.

A student pub crawl wouldnt go down well

By the way who are you working with/for?

bigpink

Make thomas street a 100% Pedestrianised its so stupid having done all the work there and to have a traffic still allowed on it,its very confusing for people when walking on Thomas street at the lower end

krudler

Story_Bud wrote: »

Its not like they want to be junkies or homeless . .

Most of them arent homeless, I jused to live just off O'Connell St and often saw them getting picked up by their mates at the end of their days begging, overheard one fella complaining he "only" made 200 quid that day once whenI was standing outside the AIB getting money, thats more than I make in a day!

Mc Love

Yeah a mate of mine lives around the corner from Souths and he see's lads begging that live a few doors away from him! They are probably drawing dole too

Amazotheamazing

bigpink wrote: »

Make thomas street a 100% Pedestrianised its so stupid having done all the work there and to have a traffic still allowed on it,its very confusing for people when walking on Thomas street at the lower end

People couldn't be that dim.

billox

main problem with Limerick is the disgraceful amount of junkies that are always hanging around the city center....walking through town today at around 5 and there was two junkies sitting on the ground outside centre on william st. and one of them had a needle sticking out of their arm.......so is it any wonder why people don't want to come into the city center.......
and i pity any of the new students waiting for the bus back out to UL having to watch some junkie getting high

Rant over i think

osarusan

No matter what other plans come about, getting rid of the beggers off the street is a top priority, along with a greater police presence.

Other things I'd love to see is a big-screen film every Friday/Saturday night in the park behind Arthur's Quay. Get a couple of hundred people into the city centre and plenty of them will stay around afterwards for a coffee or a pint (good goffee shops would help here).

Also, I'd love to see a 'busker street' where a few different acts could perform every Friday or Saturday night, with people sitting and enjoying a drink while watching them. I'd say there are plenty of local musucians who'd be glad of the exposure. It would have to be policed properly to generate a decent atmosphere though.

And I realise the rain and lack of covered public space is a problem in both those ideas.

Amazotheamazing

osarusan wrote: »

No matter what other plans come about, getting rid of the beggers off the street is a top priority, along with a greater police presence.

Other things I'd love to see is a big-screen film every Friday/Saturday night in the park behind Arthur's Quay. Get a couple of hundred people into the city centre and plenty of them will stay around afterwards for a coffee or a pint (good goffee shops would help here).

Also, I'd love to see a 'busker street' where a few different acts could perform every Friday or Saturday night, with people sitting and enjoying a drink while watching them. I'd say there are plenty of local musucians who'd be glad of the exposure. It would have to be policed properly to generate a decent atmosphere though.

And I realise the rain and lack of covered public space is a problem in both those ideas.

Great ideas, but how costly would be a screen be to install? What type of temporary one would give a decent quality picture? It's a pity both Arthur's Quay and the potato market are mostly concrete, as both would be a great locations for such a screen.

osarusan

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Great ideas, but how costly would be a screen be to install? What type of temporary one would give a decent quality picture? It's a pity both Arthur's Quay and the potato market are mostly concrete, as both would be a great locations for such a screen.

I have no idea really. Ideally, whoever was given a licence to sell drinks and snacks there would have forked over a grand or 5, which would go towards the cost.

The Milk Market would be even better maybe, as it's roofed.

Another thing I think would be cool is to get local artists to design parts of the street of pedestrianised streets. Say they're given a 2x1 metre space (spaces are assigned in order up the street, so that it looks like a chessboard, with blank concrete spaces and 'artistic' spaces.

You could even make it a yearly competition with prizes for the top 3.

(As in, the designs get pulled up after a year, and new ones go in their place).

Olaf

zing zong wrote: »

all the empty shops that are half boarded up, they need to be attractively boarded up, just until things get better, we have one of the best art colleges in the country right there on clare street, i have no doubt that some of the students there would love a go at painting really attractive images on the boards ( FOR FREE) that can be used to cover up the ugly empty shops, you could even organise a competition as an incentive

It would be really cool to see this happen. I think if there was some sort of theme, it would work really well, rather than just having loads of different random drawings.

grenache

munstergirl wrote: »

Mostly negative, especially clarion steamboat quay.
Not negative about hotel, but about winos, junkies, beggars. And murder.

you forgot to add the awful eyesore that is the metal scrap heap on the dock right beside the Clarion. I've heard numerous tourists complaining about it. For the love of god, if i'm on holiday and staying in a hotel, i certainly dont want to be looking out my window at a scrap yard! :eek: The whole port area needs to be cleaned up, its a disgrace. There also needs to be something done about the junkies that inhabit buildings around Mount Kenneth. Not exactly an enticing sight.

Lastly, i know this has been mentioned before, but the historic English Town quarter around Nicholas St has huge potential. The cobbled streets and old style buildings could be an attractive prospect if the City Council put some effort into cleaning up the area and providing proper tourist friendly services in the area such as cafes, tourist trails (something similar to Angela's Ashes walking tour) and boutiques. The council could do far worse than going down to Cork and seeing the amazing job their council did with Cork's Hugenot Quarter (Paul St/Careys Lane district). Given its proximity to King John's Castle and the city centre, i am confident that a redeveloped English Town could be one of the main tourist/social hubs in the city.

bigpink

But wasnt Nicolas st and Steamboat all pushed in the 90S as Limerick tourist areas

source

The problem with steamboat quay area, is that it has become ghettoised, due to the cheap rent in the apartments down there and in mount Kenneth.

People need to grow up with regard to the scrap piles in the docks. The docks have been there a lot longer than the hotel, and it provides a vital service and jobs. This is one of the last bits of trade that the docks do. Do we really want to make people jobless because tourists don't like the look of the docklands, even after booking into a hotel which advertises itself as being in the city's docklands?

Nicholas Street, I believe has the most potential in the city. The main issue with it is its proximity to St Mary's Park. Which makes it the main thoroughfare for tracksuit wearing idiots heading into town. If Nicholas Street was in any other city or country in the world it would be the most expensive street for property. If I had the necessary money, I would personally buy up the whole street and transform it, into the tourist area it should be.........anyone want to go in on the Euromillions tomorrow night???

Begging, Unfortunately there is not a whole lot that can be done about this until the government bring in new anti-begging legislation. There was court case challenging the constitutionality of the old begging laws, as the constitution allows for all men to earn a living. The court held that the old legislation dating from the 1800's was indeed unconstitutional, as it prevented people for whom begging was their only source of income from making a living, and so the legislation was repealed.