Tralee could thrive from its position as a gateway to Kerry’s major tourist attractions

SIR, Tralee, our capital town, is getting a makeover at present. This will add to work done over many years to improve what we have to offer as a tourist destination. We have become very conscious of our image and rightly so, if we are to survive in a very competitive market. The Tidy Towns’ competition has encouraged us to raise our standard of cleanliness and in general improve our image. Great credit is due to those in the Tidy Town committee and our local authority, who had the vision and saw the potential in what used to be a grimy industrial town.

We need to extend this vision, as the chances of Tralee being an industrial town again are slim to none.

It’s all about clustering now for the major employers and we are just too far away from these hubs. Politicians will produce regional plans and try to sell a pipe dream to those outside the cities. We want to believe in them, but reality has to dawn on us at this stage – the cavalry are not coming.

We have rail, bus, air and port access; not many towns have all of these. We have a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains and by the sea. We have many facilities: a sports complex, a myriad of sports clubs, a beautiful town park, the Wetlands, the Aquadome, Ballyseedy Wood, Tralee Bay, the windmill, the canal walkway. We need to sell the town better to the Irish market.

We actually touch the sea, but we don’t make enough of it. We could have boat trips around the bay in the summer months and we should consider a promenade from Blennerville to the Spa. Towns with promenades didn’t always have them. We have to see the potential.

We could be the hub for tourists. We are close to all the scenic destinations. We should market Tralee as the starting point for tours to the Dingle peninsula, Killarney, Ballybunion, Kenmare and Kerry’s Wild Atlantic coastline with its blue flag beaches. Tours leave many of the great cities – Paris for the Loire valley, Rome for Assisi or Pompeii, Amsterdam for the tulip fields or the windmills and tours from many destinations in France to World War battle sites. It’s a tried and tested form of sightseeing and we are a lot nearer to our scenic tourist destinations.

The town needs ‘to think big’. The local economy is still struggling and new ideas are badly needed. Let’s build our future on our location and our beautiful scenic surroundings! Sincerely, Gerry Cournane, Tralee.

Photo by D omnick Walsh Blennerville Windmill: Tralee could make more of its seafront location.