2016 is set to be the best ever year for Irish tourism, surpassing all previous records.
According to Tourism Ireland's latest estimates, 10.5 million people will have visited the island of Ireland by the end of this year.
It represents an increase of 11% on 2015, with growth recorded from all markets.
Revenue generated by international visitors is expected to be €5.4bn, a 10% increase over last year.
Tourism Ireland says a number of factors contributed to the rise, including an expansion of flights from the US, Germany and the Middle East, along with strong economies in key source markets.
However, Britain remains Ireland' s largest market for overseas tourism, and a weaker sterling is impacting on value for money in Ireland.
While acknowledging the challenge posed by the Brexit fallout, Tourism Ireland says it hope to build on this year's performance next year, and plans to grow overseas tourism revenue by over 4.5% in 2017.
Minister for Tourism Shane Ross described as "complete nonsense" claims he has not contributed to the tourism portfolio.
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Showing posts with label Tourism Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tourism Ireland. Show all posts
Friday, 2 December 2016
Friday, 18 November 2016
IRELAND: Visiting Your Grand Mother Is Not Tourism !
RYANAIR’S marketer says that Irish tourism chiefs should spend more advertising money on growing European markets – and focus less on US and UK travellers.
Speaking at the Annual Tourism Policy Workshop in Dromoland Castle, Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer at the budget carrier, said there is a “massive over-dependence on visitors from the US and the UK”.
“There’s an incredible lack of Germans and Spanish and Italians,” he said.
Jacobs argued that tourism bigwigs have a “very Anglo way of looking at things”, and they assume travellers come here because “they love the smell of turf and wonderful places like Bunratty”.
“We will always say people come here because they love mystical Ireland and it’s absolutely wonderful,” he said.
“If you graph the visitors from the US to the exchange rate to the dollar, it’s purely driven by Ireland being cheap to come to when the dollar is strong.”
He noted that the bulk of UK visitors coming into the country are the likes of “Noel and Liam Gallagher coming from Manchester to visit family and friends”.
Jacobs suggested that Ireland should focus on developing its tourist products and attractions for travellers from mainland Europe, particularly Germany, and warned that Scotland is currently siphoning off those visitors.
Ryanair is currently looking to ramp up its share in the German market and earlier this month announced that it will base two aircraft in Frankfurt, a traditional stronghold for carrier Lufthansa, to serve flights around the continent.
On Dublin’s hotel crunch, Jacobs urged Minister for Tourism Shane Ross to bring “25% more hotel beds” into the capital over the next three years.
Ryanair “will do its bit” to get tourists to the island, he said, “but if they can’t get decent places to stay, the whole thing isn’t going to work”.
Jacobs said Irish tourism bigwigs should stop “talking the hind legs off the donkey” and do a “never-done-before deal with Airbnb” for travellers that want to stay with an Irish family.
Unsurprisingly, given his boss Michael O’Leary’s outspoken stance on pay claims, among many other things, Jacobs called public sector pay increases “absolute lunacy” and warned that if the government “caves in” to demands, “a smaller cheque will be given to Tourism Ireland every single year”.
He told Fora that the airline expects to have a long haul transfer deal with Aer Lingus in place by the end of 2017.
Speaking at the Annual Tourism Policy Workshop in Dromoland Castle, Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer at the budget carrier, said there is a “massive over-dependence on visitors from the US and the UK”.
“There’s an incredible lack of Germans and Spanish and Italians,” he said.
Jacobs argued that tourism bigwigs have a “very Anglo way of looking at things”, and they assume travellers come here because “they love the smell of turf and wonderful places like Bunratty”.
“We will always say people come here because they love mystical Ireland and it’s absolutely wonderful,” he said.
“If you graph the visitors from the US to the exchange rate to the dollar, it’s purely driven by Ireland being cheap to come to when the dollar is strong.”
He noted that the bulk of UK visitors coming into the country are the likes of “Noel and Liam Gallagher coming from Manchester to visit family and friends”.
Jacobs suggested that Ireland should focus on developing its tourist products and attractions for travellers from mainland Europe, particularly Germany, and warned that Scotland is currently siphoning off those visitors.
Ryanair is currently looking to ramp up its share in the German market and earlier this month announced that it will base two aircraft in Frankfurt, a traditional stronghold for carrier Lufthansa, to serve flights around the continent.
On Dublin’s hotel crunch, Jacobs urged Minister for Tourism Shane Ross to bring “25% more hotel beds” into the capital over the next three years.
Ryanair “will do its bit” to get tourists to the island, he said, “but if they can’t get decent places to stay, the whole thing isn’t going to work”.
Jacobs said Irish tourism bigwigs should stop “talking the hind legs off the donkey” and do a “never-done-before deal with Airbnb” for travellers that want to stay with an Irish family.
Unsurprisingly, given his boss Michael O’Leary’s outspoken stance on pay claims, among many other things, Jacobs called public sector pay increases “absolute lunacy” and warned that if the government “caves in” to demands, “a smaller cheque will be given to Tourism Ireland every single year”.
He told Fora that the airline expects to have a long haul transfer deal with Aer Lingus in place by the end of 2017.
Friday, 17 June 2016
IRELAND: Eighth GoT Door Unveiled In Cushendun
Rosemary Lightbody Tourism NI, Cormac McGeegan, Mary McBrides, and Patrick Lennon, Tourism Ireland, beside the latest GoT door in Cushendun.
The eighth Game of Thrones themed door has been unveiled in Cushendun, Co Antrim.
The door is hung in Mary McBride’s Bar in the village.
Doors based on the theme of each episode of the hit HBO show, which films partly in Northern Ireland, have been placed across NI and are being revealed weekly.
The eighth Game of Thrones themed door has been unveiled in Cushendun, Co Antrim.
The door is hung in Mary McBride’s Bar in the village.
Doors based on the theme of each episode of the hit HBO show, which films partly in Northern Ireland, have been placed across NI and are being revealed weekly.
Thursday, 17 December 2015
IRELAND: Irish Tourism To Rise Due To Filming Star Wars Movie On Skellig Michael
Over the past 12 months 7.9 million visitors from overseas have visited our shores adding €4.2billion in revenue to the economy.
And Tourism Ireland said it hopes the filming of the latest Star Wars movie on Skellig Michael, off the coast of Co Kerry, will help to draw even more in the coming months.
Boss Niall Gibbons added: “Following a record 2015, ambitious targets have been set for 2016
and beyond.
“This week’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens – which will feature Skellig Michael – also presents Tourism Ireland with a truly unique opportunity to highlight the South West and Ireland in 2016.”
Tourists from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia have come to Ireland in record numbers this year.
There was also a 10% jump in visitors from Britain, our largest tourism market.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office showed an extra half a million holidaymakers came here in the first nine months of the year – a rise of 19%.
And more importantly for the economy, revenue from overseas visitors jumped by 18% during this period – an additional €500million compared to 2014.
Star Wars filming will help bring 8.2m tourists to Ireland in 2016.
Tourism Ireland said a number of its key promotions around the world including the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats and its Ireland Says “I do” campaign helped to increase numbers.
Mr Gibbons added: “Throughout 2015 Tourism Ireland undertook a packed programme of promotions to bring Ireland to the attention of travellers everywhere.
“A major focus of our activity was the Wild Atlantic Way. Other important themes have included ID2015 [Year of Irish Design] and Yeats2015.”
IRELAND: Ireland Awaits Star Wars Tourists At Skellig Michael, A World Heritage Site
A remote corner of Ireland is hoping the latest Star Wars blockbuster will do for its tourism industry what Game of Thrones has done for its northern neighbour.
Part of the new film, The Force Awakens, was filmed at Skellig Michael, a UNESCO world heritage site 13 kilometres off the coast of Kerry, and tourism officials are banking on fans of the space opera trekking to Ireland to see the island for themselves.
“The opportunity to associate the Ireland brand with the Star Wars brand is something that’s going to be good for all of us,” said Niall Gibbons, of Tourism Ireland. Northern Ireland has already capitalized on its links as a filming location for the Thrones HBO fantasy series.
Part of the new film, The Force Awakens, was filmed at Skellig Michael, a UNESCO world heritage site 13 kilometres off the coast of Kerry, and tourism officials are banking on fans of the space opera trekking to Ireland to see the island for themselves.
“The opportunity to associate the Ireland brand with the Star Wars brand is something that’s going to be good for all of us,” said Niall Gibbons, of Tourism Ireland. Northern Ireland has already capitalized on its links as a filming location for the Thrones HBO fantasy series.
Saturday, 24 October 2015
IRELAND: Tourism Ireland Launches Game of Thrones Campaign In India
Tourism Ireland has launched a digital campaign in India to promote the locations of Northern Ireland where the hit TV series Game of Thrones has been filmed. The four week social media campaign which targets Indian fans of the award-winning series will run across Facebook and Twitter and shows the fictional world of Westeros bleeding into the real world. The campaign uses image content for fans to share, to celebrate the show and its filming locations in Northern Ireland.
The competition, which is being run in partnership with HBO, will invite fans of Game of Thrones to answer three questions on the show and the filming locations in Northern Ireland. The prizes for the campaign will include a four days Game of Thrones inspired holiday to Northern Ireland as well as exclusive Game of Thrones merchandise. The competition is being hosted on the website and is scheduled to run until November 15, 2015.
Beena Menon, India representative, Tourism Ireland said, “Fans of the Game of Thrones series from across India are now familiar with locations such as Dark Hedges in Country Antrim and Cairncastle. Our goal through this campaign is to reach out to the fan base of the series in India and showcase the stunning locations in Northern Ireland and encourage Indian travellers to experience the beauty of Northern Ireland as well as the local cuisine, restaurants and hospitality of the warm and friendly Irish people.”
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