Tuesday, 6^th March 2007

APPALLING ROADS & SIGNPOSTS IRRITATE TOURISTS

Minister for the Environment Challenged to take Action

Serious concern was expressed at the Irish Hotels Federation’s 69th annual conference today at the continuous negative feedback from overseas visitors in relation to confusing directional signs. IHF President, Annette Devine said that it is obvious the majority of local authority engineers with responsibility for directional signs do not travel on the roads they are responsible for and do not link in with their neighbouring local authorities to ensure uniformity of directions. She urged the Minister for the Environment to set national standards for all local authorities to abide by on a par with international practice as this would eliminate the varying quality of signage from county to county.

Ms Devine stated that it was senseless investing significant budgets in marketing campaigns to attract visitors to specific regions only to have them get lost when they eventually get here. This, combined with inferior quality roads, creates a frustrating, negative experience for Ireland’s valuable 7.4 million tourists. She highlighted the difficulties in navigating the way to Killarney and Tralee after leaving Dingle; and the confusion for people embarking from the ferry in Dun Laoghaire and trying to make their way to the M50. These are typical examples of how poor signage can send people in the wrong direction.  

“Every tourist who relates a negative experience influences an additional four potential visitors deciding not to visit Ireland because of what they have heard. I would challenge all the county engineers to actually get in their cars, pretend they are a tourist and drive to a number of destinations in neighbouring counties and depend solely on road signage as their means of direction,” says Ms Devine.

The IHF maintains that, although roads and signage issues have been highlighted again and again over the years, no action has been taken to rectify the problem. It is now fundamental that the Minister for the Environment takes full responsibility for implementing a nationwide co-ordinated strategy to give Ireland the quality of road signage that is the standard in other countries. Currently, 40 bodies implement road signage with each county having its own approach to the amount and quality of signage with no obvious linkages to neighbouring counties.  

The IHF recommends that:

• Guidelines and standards are set for signage for all local authorities to implement.
• Every single major junction in the country should have clear, correct and large directional road signage.
• Joint planning between adjoining local authorities should be established for all signage erected.
• Adequate signage from all major roads should be provided for areas of particular interest to tourists.
• Road signs should be located at least 50 metres back from all intersections, not directly at the junction.
• All signs should be cleaned and maintained and all hedges should be trimmed to allow maximum visibility.  

             “Sitting on the fence and ignoring a situation which causes huge problems for tourists as well as our own citizens has to stop. Decisions and actions must be taken now at national level for a number of reasons, one of which is the protection of our €5.9 billion tourism industry,” concludes Ms Devine.

FOR INFORMATION:

Siobhan Molloy/Eoin Quinn                          (01) 676 01 68

Weber Shandwick                                          086 8175066 / 087 2332191