Portteamsup withStenaand Tourismbody
TOURISM Ireland has teamed up with Stena Line and Rosslare Europort to promote Ireland’s Ancient East and, in particular, counties Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny.
A joint campaign – supported by Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny County Councils – is under way, highlighting ease of access via the Stena Line ferry service from Fishguard to Rosslare.
Coincidentally, Stena Line has just revised its schedules between Fishguard and Rosslare, aimed at making them more user friendly following consultations with service users.
The tourism promotion will run until the end of April; a similar campaign will be rolled out in September. It features a fabulous image of Hook Lighthouse, one of the most visited tourist attractions in south Wexford.
The campaign includes online advertisements on popular websites, radio ads (on stations in London, the Midlands and South Wales) and ads on Facebook. As well as highlighting ease of access, the ads are encouraging British holidaymakers to ‘Drive over to Ireland’s Ancient East’.
Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s Deputy Head of Britain, said:
‘We are delighted to partner with Stena Line and Rosslare Europort to maximise the promotion of the Stena Line service from Fishguard to Rosslare.
‘Our aim is to boost car touring visitor numbers to the South East and Ireland this summer; visitors who bring their car here on holidays tend to stay longer, spend more and are more likely to visit more than one region.
‘Great Britain is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland and Tourism Ireland is undertaking an extensive programme of promotions throughout 2017, to highlight Ireland to British travellers.
Tourism Ireland continues to monitor developments around Brexit closely, to better understand and plan for its implications on travel.
‘Competitiveness and value for money will be more important than ever this year, given the decline in the value of sterling,’ she said.
Tourism is the island of Ireland’s largest indigenous industry; responsible for in excess of four per cent of GNP in the Republic of Ireland and employing approximately 220,000 people.
• In 2016, we welcomed approximately 10.5 million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland, delivering revenue of about €5.4 billion.
• Tourism Ireland’s international website is www.ireland.com, 29 market sites available in 11 language versions around the world, which attracted 19.37 million visitors in 2016.