There is no specific tourism policy formulated by the local authorities, but in the City Development Plan there are a wide range of topics related with tourism.
Firstly, the city centre will be extended in order to reduce the congestion of the current city centre area and this will cause repercussion for the tourism. If the centre is bigger, it means that the visitors will need a more compact public transport system, which will be arranged by the Transport 21 programme, because the distance to travel are longer and also the areas to maintain clean and safe will augment. Another opportunity of this extension it would be the possibility of creating pedestrian routes or heritage trails to go from one tourist site to another. This would let the visitors keep on discovering the city on foot because although the city centre is bigger, it will never be like the city centre of London or Paris. These improvements on transport will help to preserve the environment on the grounds that with a more effective transport system, less people will use the car and also with better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, there will be a reduction of the pollution.
Also, more areas will benefit from the presence of the tourism. An example of that is what happened in the area where the Guinness Storehouse is located that it was refurbished due to the tourism.
The extension of the city centre would promote a quieter environment of Dublin that would be in more harmony with the overall Irish image of green and calm destination that is sold and that would attract more visitors.
The Dublin Legibility Study will also allow to know how the tourists move within the city
and then the pedestrian routes will link the most popular attractions with other that are not very well-known and also the signage for visitors will be strategically placed in the most adequate place. All things considered, it will lead to a first-class tourism context for the city reinforcing its character of urban destination.
With the conservation of the heritage policy, the tourism industry will continue taking advantage of the unique charm of the city as an element of differentiation from other European city destinations and that is vital as it has been observed in the beginning of the project. For this reason it is fundamental the preservation of the facades of the Irish pubs and restaurants, the streets, the paving and all the remains of the city’s history as well as avoiding the concentration of contemporary entertainment locals and clubs that break the traditional image of the Irish nightlife. As an urban tourism destination, there is a clear need of preserving the authenticity of the Irish culture and the nightlife is one of these distinctive features. The urban renewal, in general, also contributes to the development of the tourism activity, particularly in some cases such as the Temple Bar explained in the project.
The foundation a museum of Dublin is also a key step to complete the attraction catalogue and to contribute to raise awareness of the heritage weight in Dublin.
As far as the shopping facilities are concerned, emphasis is put on encouraging the ground floor units and on decorating the retail areas with plants and flowers. The area where the trade was located years ago will be refurbished and promoted as a shopping area that will attract new sightseers. Shopping is a main attractor for city tourism and in the case of Dublin it is more remarkable due to the numerous artists, street vendors and musicians that play on the streets and attract, in this way, the attention of the visitors. The level of the performances of these individuals is so exceptional that visitors consider it as another tourist attraction.
Last but not least, the recreational use of the Dublin’s coastline will be promoted and by 2011 it is wanted to have the Blue Flag in the majority of the beaches with the intention of attracting more visitors and in this way lengthening the duration of the stay in the city and the tourist revenue. This could be an opportunity since the climate is changing and in some periods of the year Dublin is not as cold as it used to be. Moreover, there are very few European capital destinations that have beach and this combination of culture and leisure will find a competitive place in the future of city tourism.
The Dublin City Development Board has developed two strategies to improve the overall life quality in the city. Firstly, a plan to increase the security in the city since it is stated that the grade of safety perception of a destination can directly diminish the quality of life and the attractiveness of the city for the visitors and, as a result, it could lead to a decrease on the investment for tourism. Secondly, the creation of a City Arts and Culture Office and that is important because managing and promote culture is vital in order to point out the different and exclusive characteristics of the city and combat the homogeneity if the urban tourism due to the globalisation and the high number of trips.