Cobh Tourism Autumn Newsletter

Welcome

Welcome to the autumn edition of our newsletter which we hope will keep you up to date on the work we have been doing to promote Cobh as a great place to visit and stay in.

Thank you to those who have renewed their membership and to those of you who have not we encourage you to renew without delay. At just €20 we feel that this is the best investment that you could make this year. If you are reading this newsletter and would like to become a member, please email us at cobhtourism@gmail.com for an application form or call our chairman Hendrick Verwey on 087 2593850.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone that you think may be interested in learning about or joining Cobh Tourism.

See more at:

Web:http://visitcobh.com/

Tweet:http://twitter.com/#!/CobhTourism

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/cobh.tourism

Google Plus:https://plus.google.com/cobhtourism

(must already have Google Plus to view)

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Website

Our website has undergone multiple improvements in the past months included regularly updated content, listings and new sections and features.

Performance of Website:

Since April our website has seen significant improvements in layout, content and traffic. The layout has been altered to make the site as accessible as possible to everybody.

We have aimed to make the most sought after information the most available so that visitors to visitcobh.com can find what they need to find quickly, easily and within no more than two clicks.

Over the past number of months our website has seen record numbers of traffic per day, per week and per month. We reached and maintained the target of 370 visits per week (with an average of 50 visits per day) and had our busiest month yet in July where we got 3,000 visits over the course of the month. This included Sunday 24th of July where we had 210 visitors in one day, a new record for our website.

We have seen the sources of our traffic expand and our efforts to put information about Cobh in more places online (with a link to our website) have been very successful. The majority of our traffic sources comes from Google searches, Cruise Travel sites (e.g. Cruise Critic), Facebook and South and East Cork Tourism’s website.

We are confident that the performance of our website will continue to improve and that it will be used as a resource for people planning a visit to Cobh.

The new sections include:

Famous People of Cobh:

A selection of the best of Cobh’s famous sons and daughters including Sonia O’Sullivan, Jack Doyle, Roy Keane and Treasa Goodwin Smyth.

Guide to Dining in Cobh:

A section dedicated to the fine food Cobh has to offer the visitor. If your dining establishment is not already listed, please contact us on cobhtourism@gmail.com with full details.

Improved Accommodation Section:

Our accommodation section has been updated to include photographs.

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Fundraising

Hell’s Kitchen in Trade Winds Restaurant on 29th August in support of Cobh Tourism was a great success. A huge thank you to Sandra O’Shea for giving up her restaurant for the night and putting our celebrity chefs through their paces.

Our Church gate collection was also very well supported with over €1000 raised. The proceeds from the Race Night, membership subscriptions, the grant from Cobh Town Council and further fundraising events means that we will be able to effectively market Cobh and all that it has to offer.

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Special Olympians Homecoming

Cobh Tourism was delighted to welcome home to Cobh Clodagh Kilcullen and Paul Bridgeman after their success at the World Special Olympics in Athens and for putting Cobh on the map. With the assistance of St. Colman’s Pipe Band and Cobh Road Train the athletes were brought along the town and back to the Promenade where they were presented with certificates and vouchers kindly donated by Cobh Heritage Centre.

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Tourism Street Ambassadors

Cobh Tourism Ambassadors were launched on 11th April to coincide with the visit of the first Cruise liner of the season, the Queen Victoria and will continue until the end of September. The scheme has been very successful and the Ambassadors are being very well received by the visitors to Cobh. If you are interested in volunteering for 2012, please contact us at cobhtourism@gmail.com or call Ursula Duffy at 0851668271.

Get out there and help to build our reputation as the most welcoming town in Ireland!

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Annual General Meeting

In accordance with our Memorandum and Articles of Assocation, Cobh Tourism will hold its AGM in late October. Notice of the meeting will be sent to all members.

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Visiting Bands

Cobh Tourism was delighted to facilitate the visit to Cobh of three bands this summer that complemeted Cobh and Harbour Chamber’s Summer Swing. These events included 2 performances by the Band of 1 Southern Brigade and a performance by the Stalybridge Old Band from Cheshire and the Dawson Creek Kiwanis Community Band from Canada. These bands added great atmosphere, colour and of course great musical sounds to the town at virtually no cost to either Cobh Tourism or anyone else and their performances were very well attended.

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Exiles Exhibition – a Cobh Tourism Asset!

The multimedia Exiles exhibition tells the tale of emigration from the Port of Cork using light, sound, digital motion imagery and intense atmosphere and is housed in a 40 ft shipping container. It will soon be moved by the Port of Cork from the Deep Water Quay to Kennedy Pier and control of the exhibition has been generously given to Cobh Tourism by the Port of Cork. It is our hope to have the exhibition open for viewing on a regular basis and it will add to the visitor experience of those visiting Cobh and Spike Island.

Trip Advisor is the most popular travel website on the internet with many people planning their entire holiday on the website. Since July Cobh Tourism is the registered “owner” of the attraction “Cobh” on Trip Advisor. This allows us to personally respond to any reviews on Cobh, whether they are positive or negative. It also allows us to build the profile of Cobh by updating information and adding photos.

Cobh always performs well on Trip Advisor and we hope this will enable us to help it perform even better. Our goal is to maintain the No. 2 spot in the “Best Attractions in Cork” and eventually reach No. 1. To see Cobh’s profile on Trip Advisor please see below and please encourage visitors to your establishment to write reviews about their visit to you and to Cobh.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g186600-d546284-Reviews-Cobh-Cork_County_Cork.html

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Ships

Whether people come specifically to see one or just happen to be in Cobh on the day a liner is visiting, it is certainly one of the greatest experiences Cobh has to offer.

Over the summer season, Cobh has been visited by the world’s biggest and most luxurious liners. The buzz and atmosphere about Cobh when a liner is visiting gives a psychological boost as well as a financial one.

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Fergal Quinn’s Town Project

Cobh Tourism submitted a detailed visual application to Animo Productions hoping that Cobh would be chosen for Fergal Quinn’s new six part television show “A town fights back”. The application was made in the name of Cobh Tourism, Cobh and Harbour Chamber, Great Island Community Centre, Port of Cork, Cobh Tidy Towns, See You in Cobh and Titanic 100 showing Cobh as a town that is capable of pulling together to beat the recession.

Unfortunately Cobh wasn’t successful and the town selected was Drogheda.

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Hector in Cobh!

Thanks to the stellar efforts of Mark Leahy on Put Your Town On The Map on Hector’s Breakfast show on 2FM a few months ago, Hector came to Cobh to broadcast his show on 10th June. Through Cobh Tourism’s promotional work this was a huge success and has helped to raise the profile of Cobh even higher.

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Old Church Cemetery Tours

Free guided tours of the Old Church Cemetery with Jack Gilmartin have taken place on the first Sunday of every month at 2.30 pm from May and will finish on 4th September. Jack’s depth of knowledge and witty style makes these tours entertaining as well as informative and they have been very well attended. Cobh Tourism is very proud to be associated with the promotion of these tours.

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Commemorations

Lusitania

The 96th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania Commemoration organised by Cobh Tourism was held at the Old Church Cemetery and at the Lusitania Peace Memorial in Casement Square on 8th May.

The event received great coverage in the media:

The Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0510/1224270049812.html

The Irish Examiner:

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/cobh-remembers-victims-of-lusitania-tragedy-119335.html

Cobh Tourism is assisting the Port of Cork in organising a commemoration of the sinking of the Lusitania to coincide with the maiden call of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth to Cobh on 10th September. The ceremony will take place at 11 am at the Lusitania Peace Memorial.

Titanic

The 99th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was commemorated in Cobh on 10th April. Organised by Cobh Tourism it attracted a large attendance including a large contingent from Addergoole parish in Co. Mayo. The event recieved great coverage in the media including several news slots on 96FM. The print media also gave extensive coverage including:

The Irish Examiner:

http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/99-years-on-cobh-pays-tribute-to-titanic-victims-151015.html

The Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0411/1224294394643.html

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Australia Day: Experience “Down under” – right here in Cobh

Sunday 24th July saw 1500 Australians on a World Cruise aboard the Cruise liner Dawn Princess arrive in Cobh. To celebrate, Cobh Tourism and See You presented “Australia Day” in Cobh.

The day’s festivities included fascinating shop window displays, the sizzle of barbecues and food stalls, local arts and crafts, traditional music and dancing that had locals and visitors alike tapping their feet and a performance by the Band of 1 Southern Brigade.

The Cobh Confraternity Band, joined by the CJ Kickham Band from Tipperary played on the quayside as the Dawn Princess sailed for Bermuda to continue its 104 night odyssey around the World. When the ship sailed at 3 pm it was as if thousands of locals had come out to wave off their best friends!

This blog from passengers on the Dawn Princess says it all:

http://worldexplorers2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-cant-help-falling-in-love-with-you.html

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Moroneys, Luasca, the O’Loinsigh family and Michael Farrell, Aoife Ryan’s School of dance, the Band of 1 Southern Brigade and Caitriona Fallon and Stephen Barry who performed throughout the day. Cobh Heritage Centre proved to be the ideal venue for the “Blessing of the Bonnets” ceremony devised by Australian conceptual artist Christina Henri. Debbie Walsh and the staff of the centre continue provide great support to Cobh Tourism. There was great coverage in both the local and national press as well as many blogs and online news features:

The Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0725/1224301314743.html

The Irish Independent:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/blessing-the-bonnets-on-australia-day-2830215.html

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Barrack Hill Ball Roll

Th 5th annual Barrack Hill Ball Roll took place on Monday August 1st and received extensive pre and post event coverage on radio and in the local and national press:

The Irish Independent:

http://www.independent.ie/travel/inside-ireland/20-best-things-to-do-this-summer-2666419.html

The Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0802/1224301718453.html

A date for your diary – 6th August 2012!

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Radio Coverage

Cobh Tourism has built up a good relationship with Cork Radio station 96FM and as a result Cruise Liner visits, events of all types, commemorations and news stories receive extensive coverage on the station.

Of course all of this is free publicity for Cobh and helps to attract visitors and build our town’s profile.

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Facebook Update

We have now reached over 2000 Facebook friends and are getting great interaction on our page. The daily “Another Great Snap of Cobh” feature has been of huge success with, on average more than 30 likes on busy days.

Have a Great Snap to add? Why not submit one of your photos with the tagline “Another Great Snap of Cobh”? We now also post a photograph on the Tourism Ireland Facebook page several times a week.

http://www.facebook.com/cobh.tourism

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Heritage Week 2011

Cobh Tourism ensured that Cobh had a number of events in the printed Heritage Week Events Guide this year. A tour of the Old Church Cemetery, the Cathedral tours, Cobh Museum, the Carillon Recitals and a Wildlife Walk of Cuskinny with Jim Wilson all featured in the printed guide.

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Submissions

In the past few months Cobh Tourism has made submissions to Cork County Council on the Draft Cork Harbour Study and to Cobh Town Council on the review of the Casual Trading ByeLaws. We will shortly make a submission to Cobh Town Council on the review of the Parking ByeLaws.

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Thank you Conor!

We are delighted to have had UCC Marketing student Conor Dalton working with us since April and he completes his internship on 8th September. There was considerable progress made in marketing Cobh in the last few months thanks in no small part to Conor.

We wish him well in his further studies and career.

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