Industry & Business

2016 is set to be the best year ever for Irish tourism, surpassing all previous records, according to Tourism Ireland who launched its marketing plan to promote Ireland as a tourist destination in 2017 on Sunday, November 27. Tourism Ireland said that, by the end of the year, 10.5 million people will have visited the island of Ireland.

CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said: “Throughout the year, Tourism Ireland undertook a packed programme of promotions, to bring Ireland to the attention of travellers everywhere. Thousands of opportunities were created for potential visitors around the world to read, hear or watch positive messages about Ireland; Tourism Ireland estimates that this media exposure is worth an estimated €385 million in equivalent advertising value.”

For 2017, Tourism Ireland aims to build on this year’s number of visitors and to grow overseas tourism revenue by 4.5% in 2017, adding €5.7 billion to the economies north and south next year.

Tourism Ireland expects to be helped by new flights to Ireland from the US, Germany and Scandinavia, as well as expanded services via the Middle East from long-haul countries; strong economies in key source markets like the United States and Mainland Europe.

A new ad highlighting the island of Ireland was also unveiled at the Tourism Ireland launch. The ad will air from January 2017 in 23 markets around the world.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross said: “We know that the result of the UK referendum on EU membership may bring challenges for tourism in 2017. Therefore it will be more important than ever that Ireland stands out as a top tourist destination in our key overseas markets. This work to grow interest in visiting Ireland generally will be supported by promotion of our iconic holiday experiences – Ireland’s Ancient East, the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin – A Breath of Fresh Air.”

Access developments for 2017 include a new Aer Lingus flight to Dublin from Miami, as well as expanded services on Aer Lingus flights from Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando. Other new routes in the pipeline include a Delta flight from Boston to Dublin, Transavia from Munich to Dublin, a Norwegian service between Stockholm and Dublin, an SAS flight from Stockholm to Shannon, a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Shannon, WOW Air from Keflavik (Iceland) to Cork and a Swiss Air flight from Zurich to Cork. Also, Etihad will once again operate double-daily departures between Abu Dhabi and Dublin, from April.

“In early 2017, we will unveil a new strategy to grow tourism from new and emerging markets,” said CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons. “We will continue to highlight the recently-announced extension of the Irish Short Stay Visa Waiver Programme, which helps us promote to new audiences. We are committed to making 2017 another strong year for Irish tourism.”