25 October 2015
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Popular travel vloggers (or video bloggers) the Vagabrothers have released a brand new online video, called “Kinsale Catch and Cook” – the sixth in a series of nine videos, or vlogs, which they are publishing during October and November. Last month, Tourism Ireland enlisted the help of the Vagabrothers to showcase some of our top visitor attractions and experiences to prospective holidaymakers around the world.
The Vagabrothers are brothers Marko and Alex Ayling from California, vloggers (or video bloggers) who describe themselves as “backpackers and bloggers on a mission to discover the world by meeting with other young people”.
Tourism Ireland commissioned the Vagabrothers to produce a series of nine videos, or vlogs, to highlight a number of key themes – including gastronomy in Cork city and county. To view their sixth film, “Kinsale Catch and Cook”, click here (the film has already been viewed more than 2,200 times). In the 12-minute film, viewers see the Vagabrothers drive to Kinsale, where they go fishing with Butch Roberts of Angling Kinsale …. and then get the chef at Crackpots Restaurant to prepare and cook their catch! The film includes some wonderful drone footage of places in and around Kinsale, including Charles Fort. The brothers continue to Drimoleague and the Top of the Rock Pod Páirc and Walking Centre. Alex describes it as “some of the most serene, peaceful, beautiful countryside that I’ve ever seen”. Marco also enjoys dinner at O’Connors Seafood Restaurant in Bantry.
In their previous film, called “Cork city: Ireland’s Foodie Capital”, viewers saw the Vagabrothers visit the English Market, where they chatted with legendary fish merchant Pat O’Connell and dropped into the Farmgate Café, to sample tripe and Drisheen.
The series of films is being shared by the brothers on YouTube (they have 57,000+ subscribers). Marko and Alex are also sharing details of their Irish trip with their 22,000 followers on Instagram, 17,000 fans on Facebook and their 7,500 Twitter followers (@vagabrothers).
Tourism Ireland undertakes a busy publicity programme around the world each year to raise the profile of the island of Ireland – and visits by journalists and social influencers like bloggers and vloggers are a key element of that programme. Siobhán McManamy, Tourism Ireland’s head of co-operative marketing, said: “The Vagabrothers have documented their entire Irish visit online and will be releasing three other vlogs over the coming weeks, which will be seen and shared by their online followers round the world – inspiring those followers and travellers to come and sample the destination for themselves. Their social media accounts are hugely popular, so their visit is a really good opportunity to showcase Kinsale, West Cork and Ireland.”
