Tourism Ireland today reflected on highlights of its promotional activity to promote Northern Ireland around the world this year. 2013 was a good year for overseas tourism, with official figures to the end of June showing growth of +13% in overseas visitors and sentiment is positive for the latter half of the year. Highlights have included Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture, the G8 Summit and the World Police and Fire Games.
Enterprise Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster said: “Looking back over year I am encouraged by our overseas tourism figures, as our performance indicates that we are making solid progress.
“In 2013 Londonderry became the first UK City of Culture and, among many other successful events, hosted the Turner Prize on its first ever showing outside England. The world’s leaders came to Fermanagh for the G8 summit and the World Police and Fire Games brought thousands of international participants and spectators to our shores.
“In 2014 we have events such as the Giro d’Italia to look forward to and our signature tourism products such as Titanic Belfast and Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre continue to attract visitors from near and far. We must maintain our efforts and focus and continue to build on the significant progress local tourism has made over the last couple of years.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “I am pleased to see an increase in visitor numbers from overseas this year. Tourism Ireland has had a packed programme of promotions around the world this year – showcasing Northern Ireland and the fantastic calendar of events taking place throughout 2013 to potential holidaymakers everywhere. Our promotions have been highlighting Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture; other major events, like the World Police & Fire Games, were also promoted widely. Tourism Ireland also took every opportunity to capitalise on the hugely successful G8 summit, which placed Fermanagh, and Northern Ireland, in the international spotlight.”
At the beginning of this month, Tourism Ireland launched its marketing plans to promote Northern Ireland in 2014 and beyond, with ambitious targets to welcome over 2 million visitors per year by 2016. Commenting on the plans for the next three years, Niall Gibbons said: “Following a positive 2013, ambitious targets have been set for 2014-2016. We will be pulling out all the stops to capitalise on the hosting of the first stages of the famous Giro d’Italia in May 2014. We will capitalise on the huge worldwide publicity of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ and will also continue to highlight iconic experiences all over Northern Ireland – including Titanic Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and our unique National Trust properties. The Causeway Coastal Route, and driving holidays to Northern Ireland, will also be promoted widely.”
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FOR OVERSEAS TOURISM IN 2013
Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture
Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture was a major focus of Tourism Ireland’s promotions throughout 2013. The City of Culture programme provided a tremendous ‘hook’ to shine a spotlight on Londonderry and Northern Ireland around the world – particularly high profile events like the Fleadh Cheoil, the Return of Colmcille festival, Lumiere and the Turner Prize exhibition.
Overseas publicity
Working with overseas travel, lifestyle and special interest media is an important element of the overseas promotional programme. In 2013, approximately 2,000 print, online or broadcast articles and stories delivered positive messages about Northern Ireland to potential visitors around the world. Tourism Ireland estimates that this exposure is worth almost £60 million in equivalent advertising value.
OTHER MONTH-BY-MONTH HIGHLIGHTS OF 2013 FOR OVERSEAS TOURISM
January
Launch of Ireland.com
In January, Tourism Ireland launched its new international website for tourism to the island of Ireland – Ireland.com. The site was completely redeveloped, to deliver a transformed web experience for potential holidaymakers around the world. Ireland.com is now live in 22 markets, in seven languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Chinese; and a further three – Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Arabic – are currently in development and will be rolled out in early 2014. By the end of this year, Ireland.com will have attracted a record 13 million unique visits, 22% of which have come from mobile devices. There has also been a +21% increase in page views on the new site.
March
Derry~Londonderry garden helps tourism ‘bloom’ in Philadelphia
In March, a specially-commissioned Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture garden was the centrepiece of the Tourism Ireland stand at the world’s largest flower and horticultural show – the Philadelphia Flower Show in the United States. Designed to celebrate the special year of Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture, the garden was called ‘The Garden of Culture’. It incorporated a replica of the historic city walls, the two cathedrals, the famous ‘Hands across the Divide’ statue, as well as the Guildhall.
‘Global Greening’ season
Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘global greening’ initiative for St Patrick’s Day was bigger and better than ever before in 2013 – generating over £8 million worth of positive publicity for the island of Ireland across the world. This year, an ancient wonder of the world – the Pyramids of Giza – and a modern wonder of the world – the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil – went green for the first time ever on 17 March, joining a host of other major landmarks and iconic sites around the world. English business magnate Sir Richard Branson even joined in the fun – dyeing his beard (and eyelashes!) green and tweeting the resulting pictures to his three million followers!
April
International golf media swing into action
In April, top golf journalists from around the world arrived in Northern Ireland, to take part in the 2013 Tourism Ireland media golf ‘masters’. The event, organised in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, attracted golf writers from far-flung countries like China, Australia and South Africa, as well as from Great Britain, the USA, Germany and Italy. In addition to experiencing the challenges of Portstewart’s championship course, the journalists also had the opportunity to play the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush, home to last year’s Irish Open. Throughout 2013, Tourism Ireland continued to leverage positive publicity for Northern Ireland as a top golfing destination – with over 14 million potential US visitors seeing Tourism Ireland’s ‘Home of Champions’ campaign on the Golf Channel this year.
May
Gearing up for Giro d’Italia 2014
The famous Giro d’Italia cycling race took place in May. Tourism Ireland in Italy kicked off a busy programme of promotions to maximise the tourism potential of the hosting of the first stages of next year’s Giro d’Italia – which will take route competitors around Belfast, along the spectacular Causeway Coast and down to historic Armagh. Tourism Ireland had a very visible presence in the start and finish villages of each of the 21 stages of this year’s race, where brochures and information about holidays in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland were distributed. More than one million Giro and sports enthusiasts saw Tourism Ireland’s ads during the race on the website of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the principal sports newspaper in Italy; and a busy programme of social media activity in Italy, Great Britain, Germany and Spain was undertaken, to leverage the huge interest in cycling and the massive media coverage around the Giro – with regular posts on Twitter and Facebook. At the end of this year’s Giro, Tourism Ireland hosted a press briefing in Vicenza in Northern Italy, the venue for the 17th stage of the race, to highlight to about 70 influential Italian and international sports and lifestyle journalists that the Grande Partenza will take place in Northern Ireland for the first time ever in May 2014.
June
Fermanagh welcomes world leaders for the G8 Summit
The arrival of Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders for the G8 Summit offered an unprecedented opportunity to showcase Fermanagh and Northern Ireland – through the international media – to potential visitors across the world. Tourism Ireland’s promotional programme and publicity drive was stepped up considerably before, during and after the G8 Summit to capitalise on the opportunity. The organisation undertook a targeted PR campaign to maximise the potential of the G8 Summit, generating positive publicity in Great Britain and other key markets overseas and ensuring the destination was showcased to international media covering the Summit. Activity involved familiarisation visits for leading travel and lifestyle media in advance of the summit; extensive social media activity and engagement with international media during the G8; and ‘follow in the footsteps’ familiarisation visits for media and travel trade contacts specialising in business tourism and golf following the G8.
July
Bollywood producers and scouts check out Northern Ireland
Building on the success of Ek Tha Tiger in 2012, some of Bollywood’s top names travelled to Northern Ireland on a scouting mission in July, to explore numerous locations and scenic spots for their next big Bollywood blockbuster. During their time here, they checked out locations in Belfast including Belfast Castle and Titanic Belfast, before travelling along the Causeway Coastal Route to visit the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Ballintoy Harbour, the Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Mussenden Temple and the Dark Hedges near Ballymoney. Tourism Ireland in India worked closely with Northern Ireland Screen to secure the visit. In 2012, the Bollywood film shot on location in Dublin – Ek Tha Tiger – became one of the biggest-grossing movies ever in India and was seen by an estimated 100 million cinema-goers.
Northern Ireland focus for 2.2 million Daily Telegraph readers in GB
A series of articles in the prestigious Daily Telegraph newspaper showcased Northern Ireland to an estimated 2.2 million people across Great Britain during July. The four-part series of articles was developed by Tourism Ireland in conjunction with Invest Northern Ireland and other partners to shine a spotlight on Northern Ireland as a wonderful place to visit and do business. Each article in the four-part series was read by an estimated 542,000 readers. These focused on the regeneration of Northern Ireland, covering our world-class tourism product – including new attractions like Titanic Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre, as well as our superb golf and major festivals and events. Other topics included the growing success of film and TV production in Northern Ireland – and in particular HBO’s Game of Thrones in which our scenery is so spectacularly showcased, whetting appetites among viewers to come and experience the locations and the destination for themselves.
August
Rock legend Feargal Sharkey lends a hand to promote his hometown
In August, over 4 million potential GB visitors were urged to visit Derry~Londonderry during its UK City of Culture year – by Northern Ireland rock legend, Feargal Sharkey. A series of radio interviews with Sharkey, encouraging radio listeners to check out Derry-Londonderry’s plethora of cultural offerings, aired on ten GB stations, including BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Newcastle, BBC Radio Devon, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Three Counties, BFBS, City Talk, BBC Radio Merseyside and BBC Radio Humberside – reaching a combined audience of over 4 million people.
‘Friendliest ever’ World Police & Fire Games
Another ‘stand-out’ event in 2013 was the World Police and Fire Games – when 7,000 athletes, together with their friends and families, descended on Belfast and Northern Ireland for ten days at the beginning of August. Deemed the ‘friendliest games ever’, events like this help to keep Northern Ireland in the global publicity spotlight for the very best reasons, helping to change perceptions and position Northern Ireland as a top holiday and business destination.
September
Autumn campaign with a festival focus
Tourism Ireland launched a £15.7 million promotional blitz in September, to boost late-season travel to Northern Ireland. The campaign highlighted the many festivals and events taking place around Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland – from the Belfast Festival at Queens and the Banks of the Foyle Hallowe’en Carnival in Derry~Londonderry to Belfast Music Week.
On your bike for Giro d’Italia 2014!
Northern Ireland was also in the spotlight in September, at the Tour of Britain. The Tour of Britain is GB’s biggest professional cycling race and the largest free-to-spectate live sporting event – making it an ideal platform for Tourism Ireland to highlight next year’s ‘Big Start’ to cycling enthusiasts across Great Britain. In addition to highly visible advertising at key locations around London and footage of cycling here on the official race website, Tourism Ireland arranged for RampRage, a Belfast stunt bike team, to take part in the festivities as The Tour of Britain finished in London – to highlight Northern Ireland’s involvement with Giro d’Italia 2014. The RampRage team was in action at the popular Spitalfields market – targeting the estimated 40,000 people who visit the market each Sunday.
October
Tourism Ireland – over 1.9 million Facebook fans and number one on YouTube
A new report in October placed Tourism Ireland at the top of a European league table for national tourism organisations and their use of digital marketing. The Digital Tourism Brand Index is a benchmark report which measures 45 national tourism organisations in Europe and evaluates their use of digital marketing to promote their destinations. The Index ranked Tourism Ireland in the number one spot for its use of Facebook (the organisation now has more than 1.9 million fans), the most popular and influential consumer-facing social media platform used by national tourism organisations. Tourism Ireland was also ranked in the number one spot for its use of YouTube, with more than 10 million video views; and number three on Twitter.
November
Food glorious food
In November, Tourism Ireland launched the second in its series of new online films specially created to entice ‘foodies’ from around the globe. Starring celebrity chef Noel McMeel, the film showcases some of the wonderful food gems produced mainly in the Fermanagh area – demonstrating the passion of local farmers and artisan producers for growing, rearing and producing food of the highest standard. The film shows the stunning, unspoiled landscape of the Fermanagh Lakelands and how it directly impacts the high quality of local food produce. Beginning with Pat O’Doherty, whose award-winning bacon comes from his own herd of saddleback pigs reared on Inish Corkish island, the film also features Kettyle beef, Tickety-moo ice-cream and Broighter Gold rapeseed oil (made in Limavady) – with Noel preparing dishes which include all of these products. The films is being promoted around the globe on Tourism Ireland’s website, Ireland.com.
Tourism Ireland leads largest-ever sales mission to China
The largest-ever Tourism Ireland sales mission to China took place in November, with tourism partners including Visit Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and Stena Line travelling to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – to meet and do business with more than 450 top travel agents and tour operators, as well as key travel and lifestyle journalists, in the three cities.