At the launch of their marketing strategy for 2010 at the Mill Park Hotel in Donegal Town Tourism Ireland announced that their marketing efforts would be mainly focused on the UK and German markets and have set a target of increasing visitor numbers by 3% during the coming year. This is an optimistic figure as most commentators are predicting a -2% to +1% change in visitor numbers.

As Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland says …… “As a small island we are even more dependent on overseas tourism than most of our competitor destinations, and in particular on the Great Britain and North American markets. In seeking to restore growthin 2010, Tourism Ireland intends to focus on the source market (UK and Germany) which offer the best return on our investment in the short term.”

Key points of Tourism Ireland’s 2010 Marketing Strategy

• all accommodation providers must hammer home the value message
• national television marketing campaign in Germany
• ads will highlight unique character and characters of Ireland
• Northern Ireland campaign highlighting ‘Titanic – 100 years on’
• more impactful St Patrick’s Day campaign with UK-wide programme of events
• increased focus on business tourism

Focus on Germany

Tourism Ireland will create a strong emotional messages to communicate the essence of the island of Ireland. This will be achieved through a series of tv and press ads focusing on engaging and memorable holiday experiences to reinforce the brand message. The emphasis will be firmly on the unique stand-out experiences of the island and on establishing strong landscape icons to clearly differentiate us from our competitors.

Useful Resources

Read the full details of 2010 Tourism Ireland Marketing Strategy