Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland began a week-long national series of presentations when together with Cork-Kerry Tourism they outlined their marketing and business plans for 2005…
Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland began a week-long national series of presentations when together with Cork-Kerry Tourism they outlined their marketing and business plans for 2005 to tourism operators in the Cork region at a special industry meeting in Cork city.
Speaking at the presentation, Failte Ireland Chief Executive Shaun Quinn said Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland expected 2005 to be another good year for Irish tourism, with overseas visitor numbers expected to grow by around 5% from the almost 6.4 million visitors who came in 2004. This would lead to revenue from overseas visitors of around €4.4 billion. With a similar target set for the domestic market, Failte Ireland expects the number of home holidays to rise to around 3.15 million with associated revenues of €1.3 billion.
Shaun Quinn said the focus for Failte Ireland for 2005 would be on further growing the vital domestic market, and also developing a new strategy for regional and rural tourism. We have been very pleased with the return to general growth experienced in the tourism industry, particularly in the revitalisation of important overseas markets. However there is evidence of a mixed experience for businesses on the ground, depending on the region of the country they are operating in and the sector to which they belong.
In general the rural West, North West and Midlands have not experienced the same level of growth as elsewhere, and some sectors like Bed and Breakfast have also been affected by shifting consumer trends. These are challenges that will take some time to address but we will be implementing new strategies in these areas during 2005 to strengthen this process, said Mr Quinn.
In 2005 Failte Ireland, whose responsibilities include the development of special interest products like angling, equestrian, golf and walking as well as the marketing of domestic holidays, will be introducing a new integrated marketing campaign linking regions with activities and pushing consumers to web booking on ireland.ie. The campaign will incorporate television, radio, print and outdoor advertising with specific calls to action and strong regional messaging. Failte Ireland will also continue its International Sports Tourism Programme and Festivals and Events initiative, which are very important for developing regional tourism. Last year, 14 separate festivals were supported in the Cork Kerry Region.
Our research shows that Irish consumers are very responsive to interesting deals and compelling propositions. We want to impress on Irish people the depth and breadth of what`s available in Ireland in terms of places to see and things to do. In association with the Regional Tourism Authorities we will be encouraging the bundling of products and services into packages to capture the consumer`s imagination, said Mr Quinn.
For example, in the Cork Region in 2005 we will be hoping to link events centred around Cork City of Culture to accommodation offers in the city and county, together with the chance to experience a product like walking or equestrian. This package would then be offered by businesses as an all-in price, supported by our advertising and marketing, said Mr Quinn.
Tourism Ireland, the organisation responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas presented details of an ambitious three year €200m marketing programme aimed at increasing overseas visitor numbers to the island of Ireland to nine million by 2008. The organisation has set a target of 5% growth in visitor numbers in 2005.
As part of a wide-ranging programme designed specifically to help grow tourism to the regions in 2005, Tourism Ireland in conjunction with Failte Ireland has set up a dedicated marketing fund for tactical co-operative initiatives with the Regional Tourism Authorities and local tourism enterprises.
Tourism Ireland Chief Executive, Paul O`Toole, said Tourism Ireland will address the challenge of improving regional tourism by motivating overseas consumers to visit different parts of Ireland and ensuring they have ready access to good quality information and product offers. New in 2005, we will match mainland European markets to specific regions with good future potential. In these markets, Tourism Ireland will intensify its promotion of the specific region or regions and foster better business links between market trade and Irish tourism enterprises. These matches will be rotated on a three year cycle but in 2005 the Cork/Kerry region will be matched with Germany and Italy.
In addition, Tourism Ireland will be maximising the opportunities afforded by the 2005 European Capital of Culture to promote Cork and Ireland overseas. The European Capital of Culture presents Cork and Ireland with a unique and important opportunity to showcase our extraordinary cultural vitality to the world and Cork City of Culture will feature prominently in Tourism Ireland marketing and advertising campaigns in key overseas markets in 2005, he said.
Priority will also be given to reinvigorating business from Great Britain our largest and most important market Tourism Ireland has just completed the largest ever qualitative research programme to help identify and address consumer issues in the Great Britain market. Over €14m will be spent on our marketing in Great Britain this year and we are launching a redesigned destination campaign to match specific regions in Great Britain which enjoy good access links with specific regions in Ireland. This is in addition to year-round advertising in regional and national media throughout Great Britain, said Paul O`Toole.
Access development is a major element of Tourism Ireland`s ongoing work and the organisation has been extremely active in attracting new routes and services particularly to the regions. Improved access to the island of Ireland from overseas markets will be a key driver of tourism growth going forward, according to Paul O`Toole. Tourism Ireland has established an Access Development Marketing Programme to support the launch of new in-bound services, the positive results of which have been seen in the past couple of months. We will continue to work closely with all air and sea carriers, in Ireland and in the markets, to promote and maximise the inbound tourism potential presented by both new and established routes, he concluded.
Cork Kerry Regional Tourism Authority Chief Executive Maura Moynihan said the agency was very optimistic about tourism prospects for the Region in 2005. Cork 2005 offers the City and County and indeed the entire Region a great opportunity to be seen worldwide. The publicity cannot be bought and Cork Kerry Tourism will continue to work closely with Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to ensure the greatest amount of media coverage at home and overseas by ensuring that visiting journalists will received a `better than expected` experience on the ground, said Ms Moynihan.
She also welcomed the increase in direct air access into Cork, Shannon and Kerry and said it would be a boost for the short breaks market and give the Region increased opportunities to market itself both at home and overseas.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
