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"On-Off ferry message is damaging"
09.03.10
DONEGAL County Council
has been asked to clarify the status of the Foyle
and Swilly ferries as the summer season approaches.
Senator Cecilia Keaveney has written to the local
authority saying visitors were receiving a confusing
on-again, off-again message about both ferries in
the peninsula.
She said the "continual negativity about the Foyle
ferry" and the lack of an early decision on the
Swilly ferry was having a lasting negative reaction.
"It is vital that we recognise the opportunities
that lie within a well-marketed access into the
county, particularly from our nearest neighbours.
Indeed we have a lot of reversing of last year's
negative campaign to overcome," she said. |
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"Everywhere I go, but
particularly in the North, people ask me did my
expensive ferry close or is the ferry really still
going? Variations on that theme are bad because the
ferry prices are down for over a year now and the
Foyle ferry is very much still running."
The Moville-based senator said clarity and a
positive marketing |
campaign were needed
for both Foyle and Swilly ferries.
"I cannot understand why there appears to be no
concerted effort to 'sell' the message that the
Foyle ferry is operating at a very competitive rate.
The uncertainty of 2009 was akin to a hugely
negative marketing campaign in that all we heard
continually was that the ferry was ending in
September. This negativity must surely be reflected
in usage numbers of the ferry currently as my
anecdotal evidence is very widespread.
"If we're serious about tourism as a possible
employer, access is key. I strongly believe our
ferries could be doing better if we could begin to
be more strategic and positive. Indeed that needs to
have started already as the tourism season, we hope,
is just around the corner."
Senator Keaveney has now asked Council officials to
urgently update her in relation to the status of
both the Foyle and Swilly ferries.
"We have a great product to sell and it links into
so many opportunities for people in the direct and
indirect tourism sector. We all must support these
pieces of infrastructure by using them. We also need
to see them well marketed as going concerns." |
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