“…visitor expectations may be exceeded by highlighting the many previously ‘invisible’ places, encouraging repeat visits and longer stays in the city.”
Cork City Council identified an opportunity to enhance the appeal
of Cork City to the tourist market through improved visitor movement, orientation and wayfinding.
Hoping to take advantage of funding from Fáilte Ireland’s Destination Towns scheme, Tandem were asked to deliver an action plan. Within a short, 3-month timeframe, and working closely with the client team, Tandem delivered a Visitor Orientation Strategy and Action Plan which was successful in achieving funding.
Stage 1 tasks involved first-hand site surveys, stakeholder workshops and consultations, a visitor survey, the analysis of existing reports and best practice benchmarking.
The outcome was a Strategy and Action Plan that focussed on seven different areas:
Gateway points
Arrival points
Orientation, wayfinding and interpretation
Transport within the city
Walking and cycling
Attractions
Digital support
Tailored around a vision of Cork as a key maritime settlement on a route that connects it to the rest of the world, we proposed a public realm scheme of ‘quarters’ with bite-sized thematic city experiences that visitors could easily engage with.
From best practice wayfinding principles, we outlined multiple levels of visitor engagement. A bespoke signage strategy included wayfinding enhanced by interpretive opportunities that introduced interactive and fun experiences.
Gateway entry and arrival points to the city were considered to improve ‘first impressions’ for visitor arrival with stand-out welcome orientation and interpretive wayfinding points uniquely designed for Cork City.
A master map was proposed to present the city coherently and consistently across all media, anchoring the visitor around the waterways.
Around the city, new approaches were proposed to meet the expectations of visitors. By incorporating public transport information and walking/cycling routes within a signage strategy along with digital augmented reality experiences, we showed how visitors’ enjoyment and engagement could be galvanised, while re-enforcing an idea of Cork as a connected, open city.
The result was a sustainable,
future-proofed and visitor-focused orientation strategy meeting best practice principles for accessibility and wayfinding.
It showed how visitor expectations may be exceeded by highlighting the many previously ‘invisible’ places, encouraging repeat visits and longer stays in the city.