A rare opportunity to capitalise on praise

ALonely Planet Guide published in 1995 painted a pretty grim picture for any potential visitors to the City of Discovery. Dundee is, it warned, a “grey city”.

“Poor Dundee” the author opined before referring to the city as “an unfortunate example of the worst of 1960s and 1970s town planning”.

Concrete walkways were described as “unsightly”, while blocks of flats and office buildings were deemed ”ugly”.

The stinging rebuke did not stop there, with Dundee referred to as “Dole City”.

Fast forward some two decades and things could hardly be more different.

Far from some horrific backwater, Dundee is instead deemed to be one of Europe’s best places to visit.

And it is not just the Lonely Planet to have seen the light. This year has also brought unprecedented recognition from such leading luminaries as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and GQ Magazine.

The accolades just keep on coming.

However, while it may be tempting to bask in the adulation, there remains works to be done.

All the praise will only be truly merited if all of those involved in marketing the city take full advantage of the opportunities coming Dundee’s way.

There is much to gain – the phrase strike while the iron is hot has never been more apt.