Visit Waterford

What Visit Waterford does

Visit Waterford is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for County Waterford, Ireland, operating as a non-profit that promotes tourism to the region through its website, visitwaterford.com. The organization serves two distinct audiences: free end users — leisure tourists, adventure seekers, and cultural/heritage visitors — who use the platform to discover attractions, plan itineraries, and find accommodations, and a paying membership base of local tourism businesses (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, attractions) that receive directory listings, promotional features, and marketing support. The company has a small operating footprint of six employees and is headquartered in Waterford City.

The core product is a content management and trip-planning platform built on a WordPress-based CMS, featuring an interactive highlights map covering 89 attractions and activities, a personalized itinerary builder ("Find Your Wild" quiz) that generates recommendations based on user inputs (travel party, activity level, adventure type, region), a filterable accommodation and eat-and-drink directory, and an event calendar. Sub-products include the Waterford Weekend Pass and Freedom of Waterford bundled tickets, the Waterford Passport/Pawsport collectible stamp programs, the 46 km Waterford Greenway, and themed "Wild Ways" multi-day itineraries. Distribution relies on the website, active social channels (Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, TripAdvisor), email newsletters, and SEO, with earned media anchored by Condé Nast Traveller's 2025 recognition of Waterford as Ireland's No. 1 destination for the second consecutive year.

Revenue is generated through recurring membership fees paid by local tourism businesses and platform promotion services, supplemented by partnerships with Waterford City and County Council, the German partnership county Märkische Kreis, and Leave No Trace Ireland. The model is effectively a tourism marketing cooperative rather than a transactional commerce business: individual bookings occur on member websites, while Visit Waterford monetizes its role as the official discovery and curation layer for the region. Notable competitive advantages include its mandated DMO status, brand recognition through international awards (Condé Nast Traveller, Purple Flag, UNESCO Global Geopark, TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice), and a content library of curated trails, itineraries, and visitor guidance that would be costly for an outside entrant to replicate.

Name

Visit Waterford

Legal name

Visit Waterford

Website

https://visitwaterford.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Visit Waterford is the official, non-profit destination marketing organization for County Waterford, Ireland. It serves leisure tourists and adventure/cultural visitors with a WordPress-based trip-planning platform — including a personalized itinerary quiz, interactive map of 89 attractions, accommodation and event directories — and monetizes via membership fees from local tourism businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Waterford City

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Visit Waterford operates a membership program where local tourism businesses (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, attractions) pay to be featured on the platform and receive promotional support, directory listings, and access to marketing resources
2. Platform Promotion Services: The organization promotes member businesses through the website, social media channels, and marketing campaigns, effectively serving as a tourism marketing cooperative for the region

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Visit Waterford operates the official destination marketing platform for County Waterford, Ireland, providing visitors with itinerary planning tools, an interactive map, curated activity collections, accommodation and eat & drink directories, an events calendar, and bundled tourism passes such as the Waterford Weekend Pass and Freedom of Waterford Ticket. The organisation is structured as a non-profit tourism body funded by membership fees from local tourism businesses and partners with Waterford City and County Council.

Product overview

Visit Waterford is a destination marketing and travel planning platform serving as the official tourism portal for County Waterford, Ireland. The platform operates as a unified tourism management system combining a personalized itinerary builder (Find Your Wild quiz), curated experience collections, accommodation and dining directories, event calendars, digital ticketing (Waterford Weekend Pass, Freedom of Waterford), trail information including the 46 km Waterford Greenway, and an interactive highlights map. The offering spans discovery, planning, and booking integration for visitors exploring Waterford's attractions, museums (Waterford Treasures, Irish Museum of Time), outdoor activities, coastal adventures, heritage sites, and cultural venues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visit Waterford Destination Platform Free consumer-facing destination platform offering an itinerary builder, interactive map, curated activity collections, accommodation and eat & drink directories, and an events calendar for visitors planning trips to County Waterford, Ireland.
• Waterford Weekend Pass Paid multi-attraction ticket bundle providing leisure and short-break visitors with combined entry to participating Waterford attractions during a weekend stay.
• Freedom of Waterford Ticket Paid multi-attraction ticket bundle providing cultural and heritage visitors with combined access to a curated set of participating Waterford city and county attractions.
• Waterford Passport Collectible stamp programme in which visitors collect marks at participating Waterford attractions, encouraging repeat visitation and longer dwell time across the county.
• Waterford Pawsport Pet-friendly collectible stamp programme that helps dog-owning visitors identify and engage with pet-welcoming Waterford attractions, accommodations, and amenities.
• Visit Waterford Membership Programme Annual membership offering through which local tourism businesses (accommodations, attractions, eateries, activity providers) are listed and promoted across Visit Waterford's platform and marketing channels in exchange for membership fees that fund the non-profit body.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Märkische KreiscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023The Märkische Kreis in Germany has been Waterford's official partnership county since 2023. This connection promotes cultural exchange and strengthens the friendship between the two regions. The partnership involves mutual tourism promotion, cultural exchange initiatives, and collaborative marketing efforts to encourage travel between Ireland's oldest city and Germany's Sauerland region.
• Leave No Trace IrelandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaterford City and County Council is a proud member of Leave No Trace Ireland, a national movement encouraging responsible outdoor recreation. Through this partnership, Waterford promotes care, respect, and sustainability across its parks, beaches, forests, and walking trails through educational workshops, public campaigns, and community engagement projects including the 'Love This Place' initiative.
• Waterford City and County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisit Waterford works in partnership with the local government authority to manage and promote sustainable tourism initiatives, maintain destination marketing activities, and implement environmental policies including the sustainability policy and Leave No Trace principles across the county.
• Member Tourism BusinessescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVisit Waterford operates a membership program for local tourism businesses including hotels, restaurants, tour operators, attractions, and accommodation providers. Members receive promotional features on the platform, social media mentions, access to marketing workshops, and inclusion in official visitor materials.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Visit Galway: Regional DMO for Galway, Ireland, performing the same destination-marketing, content-platform, and itinerary-planning function as Visit Waterford for a comparable-sized Irish region with similar tourism assets (heritage, coast, outdoor activities).
• Visit Brighton: UK coastal destination DMO operating a content-rich visitor platform with accommodation directory, events listings, and itinerary features for the Brighton region. Comparable regional scope, audience, and digital platform approach.
• Visit Dublin: The official tourism platform for the Dublin region, offering visitor information, itinerary building, accommodation directory, and event listings. Directly comparable DMO function within the same national tourism ecosystem.
• Visit Cork: Regional DMO for County Cork, Ireland, providing destination-marketing services including content, accommodation listings, events, and itinerary planning. Closely comparable in scope, geography (Ireland regional), and operating model to Visit Waterford.
• Visit Bath: Regional DMO for Bath, England, marketing a heritage-rich destination through itinerary content, accommodation listings, and member engagement. Comparable in operating model, heritage-tourism focus, and platform structure.

Broad incumbents

• Visit Wales: Welsh Government tourism body marketing Wales as a destination through content, member engagement, and partnership programs. Comparable national-DMO function and member-business structure operating in a similar-sized regional economy.
• Destination Canada: Canada's national destination marketing organization, promoting Canadian tourism through content marketing, partnerships, and member engagement. Comparable at national scale with analogous DMO function and member-based revenue dynamics.
• Tourism Ireland: The international marketing body for the island of Ireland, promoting Ireland overseas. Operates a similar destination-marketing function but at the international/national level with significantly larger budget and reach than Visit Waterford.
• Fáilte Ireland: Ireland's national tourism authority, responsible for developing and marketing Ireland as a visitor destination. Comparable as a national DMO with broader geographic scope, larger budget, and overlapping mandate to promote regional tourism including Waterford.
• VisitScotland: Scotland's national tourism organization, operating a comparable destination-marketing platform with member-business directory, itinerary tools, and content marketing. Broader geographic scope but analogous function and member-based revenue model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/visitwaterford
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@visitwaterford1228
• Facebookfacebook.com/WhereIrelandBegins
• Instagraminstagram.com/visit_waterford
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/visit-waterford

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Visit Waterford