Ireland’s 2025 tourism strategy will focus on sustainable and slow tourism – with a new advertising campaign being launched in 13 countries
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Ireland’s overseas tourism spending was up by 10pc last year compared to the year before – reaching a total of €7bn.
“Overseas tourism to the island of Ireland helped to sustain around 300,000 jobs. We’re ambitious to support growth for local businesses, economies and communities and our target is to grow overseas visitor spend to €9bn by 2030,” said Tourism Ireland CEO Alice Mansergh.
However, Ms Mansergh expressed concern about Dublin Airport’s passenger cap – which limits annual passengers at the airport to 32 million.
“In any industry there are risks to mitigate and tourism is no different. The passenger cap at Dublin Airport is top of mind and its review will be vital for tourism,” she said.
“This year, we will also need to take account of the added step that the introduction of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will bring for visitors to Northern Ireland.”
Tourism Ireland will introduce ‘Slow Tourism Month’ this June – taking into account that half of the visitors to Ireland choose not to use a car. The initiative will offer ideas for tourists to explore the country without a car – using rail, bus and tour partners who will offer overnight stays.
Ms Mansergh also acknowledged the challenge of competition from other tourism markets in mainland Europe and the UK in terms of affordability.
“We will be expecting more visitors from the US in terms of the money people can spend’” she said. “For people from other European counties and the UK, we will need to figure out how we can promote ourselves as an affordable destination.”
They also announced a new global advertising campaign that will be rolled out to over 13 overseas markets with the intention of making Ireland stand out as a ‘bucket list’ destination.
“We will be collaborating with air and sea carrier partners to support demand for routes that are viable to the regions. With 80pc of visitors researching and booking trips online, we will be sharing daily inspirational content to our 7.5 million followers on social media,” said Ms Mansergh.
In line with this, the strategy involves working with broadcasters in the overseas markets through TV and sporting programmes like The Open at Royal Portrush and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
It also includes promoting Irish tourism at festivals and other events across the year.
