Tourism Ireland is to spend €45m on promoting Ireland as a destination for tourists in 2019 after it was revealed that it had secured an additional €10m to go towards its first global advertising and marketing campaign in seven years.
The additional funding will allow Tourism Ireland to significantly strengthen its marketing programmes next year as it aims to woo 11.67m visitors, an increase of 4%. It is also hoping to grow revenues generated from tourism by 6% to €6.5bn next year.
Tourism Ireland’s new global campaign – ‘Fill your Heart with Ireland’ – will launch next month in the United States, Britain, France and Germany. From January 2019, it will be rolled out in over 20 markets around the globe. It will include TV, cinema, print, outdoor and online ads, as well as content for social platforms. The campaign will feature less visited attractions and locations and aims to attract visitors all year round. The campaign was created by Publicis London.
Details of the new campaign were revealed at the launch of Tourism Ireland’s marketing strategy and plans for 2019 earlier this week.
Tourism Ireland will also re-develop its entire suite of Ireland.com websites, which attracts more than 20m visits a year, to ensure its digital marketing continues to be ‘best in class’ in the 2020s. The new technology will also allow Tourism Ireland to re-target visitors and potential visitors with personalised messages and offers, designed to appeal to their specific interests.
In the context of the Government’s Global Ireland 2025 initiative, Tourism Ireland will implement its US, German, emerging markets and British market growth strategies. This will see the organisation expand its operations in China – with new representation in Hong Kong – and increase its marketing activity in the US and Canada, as well as in emerging markets like Japan, particularly around the Rugby World Cup.
According to Tourism Ireland, 2018 is set to be another record year for Irish tourism. Latest estimates indicate that, by year end, revenue generated by international visitors will be around €6.1 billion, a +10% increase over last year, helping to sustain around 320,000 valuable jobs in communities across the island. Some 11.2 million people will have visited the island of Ireland, representing a +6% increase over 2017, with growth recorded from all markets.
“2018 is set to be another record year for Irish tourism, surpassing all previous records and coming on the back of a number of years of strong growth,” said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.
“And, I am delighted to report that we have seen growth from all our main markets around the world – with record numbers arriving here from North America, Mainland Europe, Australia and emerging markets. Throughout the year, Tourism Ireland undertook a packed programme of promotions, to bring Ireland to the attention of travellers everywhere. Thousands of opportunities were created for potential visitors around the world to read, hear or watch positive messages about Ireland; Tourism Ireland estimates that this media exposure is worth an estimated €330m in equivalent advertising value,” he adds.
