Welcome Ambassador Programme

Waterford Viking TriangleWelcome Ambassador Programme was designed by The Viking Triangle Trust Company, Waterford Area Partnership and Waterford Institute of Technology. The course is held every Thursday in May 2013.

Day one of the course, 2nd of May:
The group of the volunteers including myself, met in T&L building of WIT where we were greeted by Ray Cullen who is the Head of Department Languages, Tourism and  Hospitality as well as by Fiona McHardy who is the CEO of the Waterford Viking Triangle Trust.

Ray Cullen spoke about WIT and the courses it has on offer, everyone was very glad that there were enough of people who wanted to dedicate couple of hours for a good cause. Catherine Power who is LCDP Coordinator for Equality and Policy Development also welcomed us to Waterford Institute of Technolgy. Olivia Freyne presented number of presentations about the attractions in Waterford City, County Waterford and County Kilkenny.

Day two of the course, 9th of May:
Today, Olivia Freyne continues on her presentations and presented information on the attractions in county Carlow, County Wexford and County Tipperary. Whereas Ray Cullen spoke to us about the customers and how it is important to walk in the shoes of the customer. Catherine Power brought sample of the polo shirts and jackets we are going to wear while on the streets. Next Thursday we are going to take on a tour of the Waterford Viking Triangle.

Day three of the course, 16th of May:
We went on the short tour of Waterford City, firstly we visited House of Waterford Chrystal where we were given a tour of the factory and time to explore the shop. After we went to the Bishop's Palace where we were told a story of the building and about the history of the Waterford between 1700 and 1970.

Day four of the course, 23rd of May:
Today is the last day of our course; the photographer from the local newspaper Waterford News and Star came in and took a group photo of the Welcome Ambassadors of Waterford Viking Triangle

The article from the newspaper, as you can see that we were trying to form a Waterford Viking Triangle.

Olivia Freyne made her final presentations on the attractions around the South East Region of Ireland and their history.  Today we had a special visit from Eoghan Greene, who is the Project Manager of Waterford Gathering ( www.waterfordgathering.com ) who spoke to us of the upcoming events in the Waterford City and the County, also about various marketing tools they used and still use in order to get publicity and to attract tourists.

Saturday, 25th of May:
Even though we had completed the course, the coach tour was organised for us in order to explore County of Waterford. We left Waterford Institute of Technology early in the morning and drove to little fishing village Passage East, through Woodstown a little town where Woodstown House was let to Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy (widow of John F. Kennedy) and her children in 1967, after we arrived to Dunmore East with its fabulous views and traditional cottages.  Then we went to Tramore a sea-resort with blue flag beaches, we took a Coastal Drive to Dungarvan town. we made a short stop in the town and drove to Lismore town where we had a picnic not far from Lismore Castle.

Wednesday, 29th of May:
We had an evening guided tour of the Waterford City, where the history was presented to us by a professional guide: on that evening we had cover Reginald's Tower, Bishop's Palace, Theatre Royal, City Hall, Christ Church Cathedral, Widows Apartments etc.

Finally, from my point of view the course was interesting and very informative, I'm glad that I went there. even though we are only volunteers, so we would not get paid for the hours we would do in the summer we are appreciated by the local attractions an businesses. First of all, pens, notebooks and folders with the brochures on the attractions were supplied to us, the uniform which consisted of the purple polo-shirt, purple waterproof jacket and bright yellow lanyard were also supplied to us. We got a complimentary entry to Waterford House of Crystal and Bishop's Palace on 16th of May and to the Medieval Museum which we can use at our own time. Some businesses around the Waterford Viking Triangle offered free tea/coffee or 10-15% discount of services or goods, which is, in my opinion, is very generous of them considering the time we are in now. We also have a complimentary entry to Theatre Royal Tours which will start on 25th of June.

Here is the picture of the uniform we will wear everyday we are working.

Due to the increased number of tourists during the weekends, rather then weekdays we will be on streets of Waterford City every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 11 am and 5 pm.