‘Our aim is to spread the success’
Ask Niall Gibbons to reveal a hidden gem in his home city and he’ll tell you about The Little Museum of Dublin. He’s a man who loves the capital, mostly for its simplicity.
He’s been Tourism Ireland’s Chief Executive since 2009 and more recently, he was appointed deputy vice president of Dublin Chamber – the organisation represents the interests of businesses in the Greater Dublin Area.
Niall, tell us a little about yourself...
I’m a business graduate of Trinity College Dublin. Having qualified as an accountant with Coopers and Lybrand, I worked for a few years in the private sector. I then moved to the public sector with the Marine Institute, for seven years. I joined Tourism Ireland as Director of Corporate Services in early 2002, just as the organisation was being set up and, in June 2009, I was appointed Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland.
How has tourism impacted Dublin in previous years?
Tourism is fundamental to the economy of
Dublin and we’ve seen the impact of the success of overseas tourism on our city in recent years. Dublin earns close to €2 billion from around six million overseas tourists each year. Almost two-thirds of overseas tourists to Ireland visit Dublin as part of their trip.
How do you feel the Irish tourism industry is performing?
2018 was another record year for Irish tourism, surpassing all previous records and coming on the back of a number of years of strong growth. Revenue generated by overseas visitors last year was approximately €6.1 billion - a +10% increase over 2017; helping to sustain around 320,000 valuable jobs in communities across the island. Around 11.2 million people visited the island of Ireland in 2018, a +6% increase over 2017, with growth recorded from all markets.
In 2019, the ambition is to grow overseas tourism revenue by +6%, to €6.5 billion for the island of Ireland; and to grow visitor numbers to 11.67 million (+4%). Our aim is to spread the success throughout the year and around the entire island of Ireland – ensuring we maintain our renowned welcome and superb visitor experience.
Highlights in recent years?
The launch of Tourism Ireland’s global website, Ireland.com, which attracts more than 20 million visits per year. Also, Tourism Ireland’s emergence as a leader in digital marketing and in the social media space – Tourism Ireland now ranks fourth in the world among tourism boards on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, with a global digital reach of one billion.
The development and growth of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative since it was first launched back in 2010 has also been a highlight. Our Global Greening has brought tourism to the heart of St Patrick’s Day celebrations across the world and it generates positive international media coverage worth millions of euro each March for the island of Ireland. Last year, we saw over 300 sites and global icons light green for
the day; in honour of our patron saint and our diaspora abroad.
Tourism Ireland’s expansion into the tourism markets of the future, and in particular China, is also very exciting. The introduction of direct flights from China to Ireland last year has been a real game-changer.
In the area of screen tourism, we’ve developed ground-breaking partnerships with LucasFilm and HBO, which have allowed Tourism Ireland to leverage the global phenomena that are Star Wars and Game of Thrones to showcase the island of Ireland, in a new way, to hundreds of millions of fans across the world.
Tell us about your new global campaign:
We’ve just launched a new global campaign – ‘Fill your Heart with Ireland’. It’s being rolled out in over 20 markets around the globe and includes TV, cinema, print, outdoor and online ads, as well as content for social platforms.
Sustainability is the watchword for Tourism Ireland, in 2019 and beyond. We are placing a greater focus on driving growth to less visited attractions and locations, as well as on driving business in the off-peak and shoulder seasons. We’re working very closely with our partners in Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland, to ensure a seamless experience for today’s tourist.
It’s never been more important to ensure that the promise we make in the marketplace matches the wonderful experience on the ground.
Your thoughts on Brexit?
Brexit is the single biggest external challenge that is likely to impact on Irish tourism in the coming months and years. The immediate impact on Irish tourism after the vote in 2016 was the weakening of Sterling, which affected Ireland’s competitiveness – making holidays and short breaks to Ireland more expensive for British visitors.
Tourism Ireland’s message is that it is very much ‘business as usual’; Britain continues to be a very important market for tourism to the island of Ireland, delivering 44% of all overseas visitors and around 25% of all overseas tourism revenue. In 2018, we welcomed around 4.716 million British visitors to the island of Ireland.
Since the Brexit referendum, Tourism Ireland has been monitoring developments closely, to better understand and plan for any implications of Brexit on Irish tourism. We’ve established a UK-based Brexit taskforce with senior members of the UK and Irish industry. We carry out research in the marketplace and we will be launching a new strategy for the market in 2019.
We continue to highlight the wide variety of things to see and do on holiday here, as well as the ease of getting to the island of Ireland, with almost 238,000 seats by air and 46,000 car spaces on ferries from Britain every week. Competitiveness and the value for money message remain important.
What do you love about Dublin?
Simplicity – being able to cycle to work and walk around town. Watching my kids grow up in a city they want to grow old in.
Your favourite restaurants and pubs?
That’s a question that gets me into trouble! However, I have to mention the Stag’s Head where my college friends and I have been meeting regularly for over 30 years.
A ‘hidden gem’ in Dublin you think we should know about?
The Little Museum of Dublin – but you probably knew that already!