howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#1
cannot find the original thread but the town council invited companies to tender for a transport service to operate during the summer months that would join up all local attractions and be used by both tourists and locals.
we are now at the end of april so tenders would have been assessed and i would have thought someone would have been awarded the contract by now.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#2
the closing date for tendering was the 13th of april, maybe someone on here can confirm the outcome.
Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,321
#3
Well, I hope it's not Eastonways, tourists deserve something better than their filthy buses.
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#4
and prone to breakdown too, we have a few cruise ships already with a record breaking month of may just started.
hope things get sorted soon.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#5
was told today that nobody had tendered due to the lack of notice.
not surprising as anyone running services would have to employ extra staff and purchase more buses in order to fulfil any contract awarded.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#6
I would have thought that a good tourist bus, taking people round to all the local tourism sites on cruise days, would have been a winner - for that person and the tourists.
Richared Mahony runs a small small (12/14 seater) service on cruise call (POC) days, but apparantly it's not a designated "we go here, here and here" service but more of a "where do you want to go today" kind of service.
If it was a set route, then a leaflet/brochure could be printed showing the route and the sites and also have advertisng to (more than) cover the costs.
Once again, a good opportunity lost.
Roger
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
#7
Every cruise we have been on (even some of the mini cruises operated on the North Sea and Biscay ferries) has had that sort of trip offered at every port of call by the cruise company to the passengers, sometimes with stops and sometimes without.
The tours organised by the cruise companies are favoured by those who like to looked after every step of the way and know exactly where they are going and what they are getting (including the time and number of toilet stops
), or are elderly or infirm. The more active and independent passengers are likely to look at Dover from the ship and decide to take the bus into town and walk the rest.
In bigger places we like to use a hop-on hop-off tourist bus as it's usually cheaper, but if these are to be successful you need two or three an hour calling at each stop which ups the running costs, and Dover just isn't big enough to support that sort of service.
#8
It has to be made attractive enough for people to bid. I am not sure local reps are good at that.
Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
#9
To be fair these cruise ships just turn up 'as and when' so trade's difficult to predict and all we've got is a load of old stuff. Who wants to see that?
#10
Yeah! F*** history!!!!
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#11
well bern we could make it easy for them by draging every thing down to the cruise terminal.you know the ones,dover castle,the drop redoubt/grand shaft and the cream of cream the turner from margate.if i missed any please fill in the gaps.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
#12
It's a regular occurence for American tourists to complain about the castle being built so far from the train station.
#13
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#14
very true ray,rumor is that they dont like walking to far,unless it has four [4] wheels/legs to get them there.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#15
why does dover fail so badly so often
it works in other places, like southampton
more people but well organised
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#16
kieth,better people in the right jobs down there.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#17
maybe we are all wrong and the town council will announce whose tender has been accepted.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#18
dover needs to grasp the nettle and be a CAN DO area
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#19
Absolutely Keith.
But even with a CAN Do approach, if there isn't anyone co-ordinating things, it won't happen.
I know it won't/can't be me, so people don't have to think I'm after a job, but someone needs to be leading the Town and get on with the various tourism related projects.
Brian - you are probably right, they may have better people down at Southampton, but we don't have anyone leading Dover and unlikely to for a very long time.
Roger
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
#20
Er, I thought the recent press release about the DDC tourism brochure had John Iveson now in charge, and he seems to be someone who although new in this job is very competent and on top of his brief.
