A €9 million tourism marketing blitz involving significant matching private sector funding to boost visitor numbers to Ireland has been announced today (Friday) by Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar.
Tourism Ireland’s funding for the campaigns is supported by revenues from the air travel tax, while matching funding is being provided by partner companies including Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Aer Arann, overseas airlines including Emirates, Etihad, US Airways, online travel agents, Irish Ferries, Stena and other ferry companies.
A series of joint co-operative marketing campaigns between Tourism Ireland and private operators will promote Ireland to around 20 million potential overseas visitors over the coming months. The ‘Home of Champions’ campaign will also be extended to promote golfing holidays in Ireland, on the back of Irish major golf winners.
Minister Varadkar said these measures will build on the Jobs Initiative launched earlier this year, which focused on job creation in tourism. The campaigns aim to increase visitor numbers before the end of the year, and also prepare the ground for the proposed year-long tourism initiative in 2013, The Gathering, showcased at the Global Irish Economic Forum.
The key partners include the following: Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Aer Arann, Emirates, Etihad, FlyBE, Jet2, Virgin Atlantic, Norwegian Airlines, Cheapflights, Irish Ferries, Stena Line, Celtic Link, Thomas Cook India, Cox & Kings, GZL China, Aer China Travel Beijing, Beijing UTour, Expedia, Travelocity, Opodo, eDreams, HostelBookers, Hotels.com, Cheapflights and Rumbo, the Irish Tour Operators Association, SuperBreaks (UK), Gaeltacht Irland Reisen (Germany), Sceptre Tours/GCS (US), among others.
“This is a great example of joined-up thinking by Government. Marketing campaigns like these are key to boosting Ireland’s visitor numbers. These additional campaigns will reach a huge potential worldwide audience of at least 20 million. I’m particularly pleased that we can channel some of the ongoing travel tax revenue back into tourism measures, use it to leverage matching funding from the private sector, and have a tangible effect on jobs and growth,” Minister Varadkar said.
“Ireland’s tourism industry is now showing signs of recovery, with overseas visitor numbers rising by almost 12% in the first seven months of this year. I hope that measures like this will see visitor numbers continue to rise further for the rest of this year and next, and in the run-up to The Gathering in 2013.”
Tourism Ireland Director of Corporate Services and Policy Shane Clarke said: ‘This is an exciting time for the Irish tourism industry. We are looking forward to working with our industry partners to help grow overseas tourism business. In particular, we look forward to maximising the number of visitors we can attract over the typically quieter winter months’.