24 August 2017
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
€500K Wild Atlantic Way Advertising Blitz to Boost Visitor Numbers Beyond the Summer Months
Since Monday television and radio ads encouraging Irish people to get away from it all and explore Ireland’s west coast have been broadcast across national channels such as RTE, TV3, Sky and Channel 4 as Fáilte Ireland’s latest home holiday campaign for the Wild Atlantic Way begins. The €500k campaign focusses on bolstering Ireland’s off-season period and will run from the end of August through to mid-October reaching an estimated 3.3million Irish adults.
Building on the ‘Embrace the Wild Atlantic Way of Life’ campaign which was launched earlier this year, the campaign highlights a variety of experiences to be had along the coastal route which give visitors a chance to relax and reconnect with friends, family and loved ones. As well as featuring on national TV the campaign will be carried across national and local radio, as well as through our ‘always on’ online and social media channels. It is expected that 94% of adults will be exposed to the campaign over the 8 week period. View the Wild Atlantic Way TV ad here [https://youtu.be/kDfnkmo43OU].
Speaking about the campaign, Fáilte Ireland CEO, Paul Kelly explained –
“The domestic market is an important element of Ireland’s overall tourism sector and our home holiday marketing activity is geared at boosting visitor numbers outside of the busy summer months to allow businesses to sustain activity throughout the year therefore increasing revenue and generating local employment.
“Domestic performance along the Wild Atlantic Way, according to businesses on the ground, has been positive so far this year and it is our hope that this campaign will further bolster this performance as we head out of the busy summer months into the shoulder season.
“Fáilte Ireland also maintains a watchful eye on those counties who are most likely to suffer lower visitor numbers along the border as a result of Brexit and it is our hope that this autumn campaign will encourage more domestic visitors to consider a break in counties located outside of the main hotspots such as Donegal, Sligo and Mayo which all feature strongly in the campaign.”
The Irish domestic market is a very important component of the tourism sector and has proven to be very robust in recent years. Last year’s performance was buoyant with 4.8 million holiday/leisure trips taken, up 3.7% on 2015. Expenditure on domestic holidays in 2016 was €1.12 billion a 5% increase on the previous years. Total nights spent on domestic leisure trips last year was estimated at just over 15 million, a 2% increase on the previous year, with the average length of holiday trip at 3.1 nights. Visitors who stayed in hotel accommodation accounted for over 3.6 million domestic trips in 2016.
An Ireland’s Ancient East home holiday campaign is also planned for later in 2017.
