Tourism Ireland has revealed details of its 2020 marketing plans for Northern Ireland.
The organisation is aiming to grow Northern Ireland's overseas tourism revenue by 15% to £658 million and its visitor numbers by 13% to 2.57 million by 2022.
Next year, Tourism Ireland will roll out a new destination brand for Northern Ireland called "Embrace a Giant Spirit". The organisation also plans to continue to leverage the legacy of this year's Open at Royal Portrush by promoting NI's golf offering worldwide.
Additionally, the second phase of Tourism Ireland's "Fill Your Heart With Ireland" global campaign, which will promote less-visited attractions and locations such as Hillsborough Castle, Ballycastle, Rathlin Island and the walled city of Derry, will be rolled out in more than 20 markets around the world from January, 2020.
Tourism Ireland is also planning to transform its digital platforms and re-develop its entire suite of Ireland.com websites between 2020 and 2022 to ensure that its digital marketing is "best in class" in the 2020s.
"Another Record Year"
Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons stated, "2019 is set to be another record year for overseas tourism to Northern Ireland. Throughout the year, Tourism Ireland undertook a packed programme of promotions to bring Northern Ireland to the attention of travellers everywhere. Tourism Ireland pulled out all the stops to leverage the opportunities presented by the final series of Game of Thrones, as well as the superb 148th Open at Royal Portrush. Thousands of opportunities were created for potential visitors around the world to read, hear or watch positive messages about Northern Ireland. Tourism Ireland estimates that this media exposure is worth an estimated £157 million in equivalent advertising value."
According to Tourism Ireland, latest estimates indicate that, by year end, approximately 2.265 million people will have visited Northern Ireland, which is a 2% increase on the figure for 2018, while revenue generated by international visitors is expected to amount to £570 million, which is also a 2% increase on last year.
Challenges
Tourism Ireland added that while 2020 will present some challenges, such as ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, economic and geo-political uncertainty, and constraints on the availability of aircraft, particularly relating to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, it believes that growth in overseas tourism can be achieved.
© 2019 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
