WHEN DUBLIN Tourism was folded back into Fáilte Ireland last year, it meant there was no longer a State body with the sole focus of marketing the capital. But an elegant spot of online promotion called DublinTown.ieand spearheaded by the Dublin City Business Improvement District is now hoping to fill part of the void.
“There are 235,000 people who make their living in Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 and we want to instil a loyalty in those people to shop and spend money in the city centre,” says Richard Guiney, chief executive of Dublin City BID.
Dublin City BID had worked on the initiative with former Dublin Tourism staff now based at Fáilte Ireland, as well as Dublin City Council, Temple Bar Traders, transport companies, publicans and hoteliers.
Although the site – which features information about city centre traders, cultural events and transport updates – was originally “created by Dubliners for Dubliners”, an accompanying video is to be shown in markets such as China, India and Malaysia by the Dublin Institute of Technology as part of its bid to recruit overseas students to the city.
The video, which shows various Dubliners explaining why they like the city so much, built up 50,000 YouTube views in its first week.
Gareth Pitcher of Dublin clothing shop and creative agency Indigo and Cloth acted as project manager for the image-led site, which promotes almost 300 local businesses.
“We wanted to build a site that people would want to go to, not to force it down their throats,” he says.
The site and the video’s main task is to emphasise the uniqueness and general eclecticism of the independent city centre trader mix, highlighting the contrast to the out-of- town shopping centres that Guiney describes as “a bit samey” (even if they do have the advantage of free parking).
Dublin City BID was involved in the Creative Quarter scheme to promote businesses on and around South William Street as a mecca for design, culture and artisan food. South Anne Street and Talbot Street are next up for special treatment.
Guiney sounds relieved that the oft- predicted shake-up of retail centre tenancy in the wake of the online shopping upsurge has yet to take substantial hold in Dublin.
“I’d cry if there were no bookshops or record shops,” he says.