New brand to support continued growth in city centre, with footfall steadily increasing to 328,000 on average per day and unit vacancy rates falling below 9.5% year to date
Today (12th August) DublinTown was unveiled as the new brand name for Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID), the organisation made up of 2,500 businesses in Dublin city centre.
Dublin City BID was established in 2008 by businesses operating in the city centre to win back custom and create a strong and thriving city destination that is enjoyed by Dubliners and visitors alike. In 2012, the organisation created the award winning Dublintown.ie website as a vehicle to promote the broad array of activities and attractions available in the city. The site and associated social media has had enormous resonance with the public at home and abroad and has come to embody the purpose of the organisation and its mission. In 2013, there were over 250,000 unique visits to the organisation’s websites and it has gained 75,000 social media followers across its various platforms.
DublinTown CEO Richard Guiney commented: “It makes sense that the ever strengthening DublinTown brand comes to represent our entire organisation and its work. Dublin city centre is seeing a momentum building that suggests that the worst of the economic downturn is behind us. Footfall has steadily increased since Christmas 2011 and vacancy levels in the city have fallen below 9.5%. This compares favourably with averages of over 14% in comparable cities in the UK. What is most encouraging within these figures is the quality of the investments being made in both the retail and hospitality sectors. However, it is accepted by all that there is no room for complacency. After six years of significant economic turmoil, there are many issues to be addressed in the city and opportunities to be grasped.”
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe said; “Dublin currently generates some €1.5 billion in tourism revenue. The city centre area has an average daily footfall of 328,000, the majority of whom use public transport to access the city. The continued strengthening of Dublin city centre will lead to sustained increases in passenger numbers across all modes of transport. Growing visitor numbers and domestic business in the capital can make a major contribution to national recovery and job creation.
Key to achieving this growth will be collaboration and cooperation between the various public bodies, industry groups, and service providers with an interest and stake in the tourism economy to an extent that has not happened before. That is why I welcome the launch of Dublin Town – the new umbrella brand for all of the services and activities which Dublin City BID provides. Competition for the city break tourist is intense. We have a clear strategy for targeting this potential market through the Grow Dublin Task Force and I see the array of events, services and attractions offered by DublinTown as being a key element in our effort to make Dublin a more attractive and competitive international city location.”
DublinTown CEO Richard Guiney concluded; “The rebranding of Dublin City BID as DublinTown is a logical step. DublinTown perfectly captures what we are about which is reconnecting Dubliners with their city and encouraging them to spend more time enjoying their town. By creating a welcoming and vibrant environment we are also making it a more attractive choice for city breaks. The enhanced quality of life that the city centre can offer will increasingly become key to attracting and maintaining inward investment. Dublin city is coming out of the recession and has the potential to be a key economic driver for the whole country. Sustained growth will lead to significant job increases across all sectors.
The DublinTown brand captures Dublin’s friendly, informal and community focused personality. It also gives us a fresh platform to promote town’s many varied attractions and the businesses behind them.
DublinTown will continue to work with all who have an interest in Dublin city centre in both public and private sectors to ensure that Dublin’s potential is maximised and that we create a first class destination of choice.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
About Dublin Town
DublinTown’s Street Ambassadors recorded approximately 300,000 individual interactions with visitors and Dubliners in 2013, with over 100,000 maps handed out and over 120,000 direct business recommendations were made. Some of the most common recommendations are dining options, public transport, tourist attractions, shopping recommendations and cultural attractions. DublinTown Ambassadors also boarded over 100 cruise ships in Dublin Port in 2013 to greet visitors and provide local visitor expertise and recommendation.
DublinTown is also responsible for erecting Christmas lights on a total of thirty individual streets in the city centre each year and is behind the ever growing Dine in Dublin and Dublin Fashion Festivals. It organises or promotes at least one major event each month.
In 2013 Over 10,000 square meters of graffiti was removed from streets in DublinTown’s area by DublinTown graffiti removal crew (this is almost one and a half times the size of the pitch at the Aviva Stadium).
DublinTown also responded to almost 10,000 calls from member businesses availing of its rapid response cleaning service. The most common calls are cleaning up after rough sleepers, drug paraphernalia, rubbish on the streets and various waste.
DublinTown lobbies on behalf of its members on issues such as waste services, anti-social behaviour, better utilisation of Dublin streets for street entertainment, busking etc. It is working closely with Dublin City Council and National Transport Authority to ensure that important improvements such as the regeneration of the Grafton Street area and the Luas Cross City project are designed and built in a way that maximises their potential while causing the minimum of disruption to businesses and the general public.
DublinTown also operates a ‘Night Crew’ which is an extension of the daytime Ambassador and rapid response cleaning crew. The Night Crew service the evening economy in the city between the hours of 8pm – 4am, Thursday to Sunday. They act as an information point for visitors, respond to emergency street cleaning needs of members and monitor anti-social behaviour and report such to the Gardaí.