Tourism Ireland Launches the World’s First Tourism Marketing Drive in “Second Life”
Tourism Ireland today (23rd October 2007) launched a new marketing campaign in Second Life; this is the first ever marketing campaign launched by a destination or “real world” tourist board in the internet-based, virtual world of Second Life.
Since its establishment in 2003, Second Life has grown significantly and currently has more than nine million registered users or “residents”, 1.6 million of whom are considered regular users. Sixty per cent of Second Life’s users come from Ireland’s four biggest tourist markets: Great Britain, US, Germany and France. Half of those users are aged over 30 – a key demographic for tourism to the island of Ireland. These “residents” can explore, socialise, participate in activities, trade items and services using Second Life’s currency, the Linden Dollar.
As part of this marketing campaign, Tourism Ireland will sponsor a range of events and activities from now until St Patrick’s Day 2008 in Second Life’s replica city of Dublin. The events kick-off this weekend (26th–28th October) in virtual Dublin with the “Discover Ireland Festival”. Five bands and seven DJs will play on a stage located on Grafton Street. A fashion show will take place on a bridge on the River Liffey, there will be photographic exhibitions of Irish landscapes on Grafton Street, and big screens will showcase promotional videos of Ireland.
Some experts predict that the web will be three-dimensional in a decade’s time and virtual worlds such as Second Life give us some idea of what the web may look like in the future. Second Life is one of the biggest virtual worlds in existence and many major brands, including Coca-Cola, Vodafone, IBM, Toyota, Sony and Adidas already have a presence there. Within the tourism industry, Starwood Hotels have used Second Life to pilot the design of a new series of hotels and Thomas Cook offers customers virtual package tours. While some tourist boards have built copies of their destinations within Second Life, none has engaged in pro-active marketing to residents of Second Life as Tourism Ireland is now doing.
“Tourism Ireland is committed to using eMarketing to the best possible effect in promoting the island of Ireland as a holiday destination and our involvement in Second Life is about finding new ways to connect to today’s web-savvy consumer”, says Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland’s Director of Central Marketing. “The organisation has already doubled its digital marketing spend over the past three years, to 14% of all marketing activity – an investment of €6.5 million last year. Tourism Ireland plans to spend close to a quarter of its entire marketing budget online in 2008.”
Dublin in Second Life was created by John Mahon of PickSL and is a well established destination for live music and DJs – occasionally making the top ten list of the most popular places to visit there. Tourism Ireland has chosen to partner with PickSL to leverage the success of virtual Dublin as a Second Life destination, to promote the message of holidaying in the real-world destination.
Anyone can join in the “Discover Ireland Festival” by getting a free Second Life account through www.secondlife.com or at the virtual Dublin website: http://www.dublinsl.com
-ENDS-
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Sinéad Grace, Tourism Ireland Tel: 01 476 3493 / 087 685 9027
Louise Cassidy, Weber Shandwick Tel: 01 676 0168 / 086 383 5727
NOTE TO EDITORS
Discover Ireland Festival Events
Throughout the Festival
Dublin will be decked out with “Discover Ireland” flags and bunting throughout the city, giving the place a real festive feel
Informational signs about Dublin landmarks throughout the city will have a direct link to Tourism Ireland’s website www.discoverireland.com where consumers can find out more about what the island of Ireland has to offer as a tourist destination
Outdoor cinema screens will show promotional videos of Ireland on Grafton Street and in Dublin 3
Limited edition “Discover Ireland” t-shirts will be available to avatars attending the festival
The Haydn Shaughnessy Gallery (www.galleryica.com) will feature an exhibition of Irish landscapes by Ryan Whalley in an installation on Grafton Street. The Gallery, located in Kinsale, is possibly the only one outside New York that focuses entirely on people working in a digital domain. Ryan Whalley is based in Cork and is one of the most viewed photo-bloggers on the web
On Friday
12.00-13.00 Live Music with Clayton http://www.myspace.com/officialclayton
13.00-15.00 Céilidh hosted by Steve Raymond
16.00-18.00 DJ Colette Chadbourne
18.00-19.00 Live Music with Picker Apogee http://www.myspace.com/pickerapogee
On Saturday
10.00-12.00: DJ Otawan Fouquet
12.00-13.00 Live Music with Jaynine Scarborough aka Juliane Gabriel
http://www.myspace.com/julianegabriel
13.00-14.00 Live Music with Lee Rogers http://www.myspace.com/leerogersmusic
14.00-15.00 DJ Danton Thrioll
16.00-18.00 DJ Cher Harrington
On Sunday
08.00-10.00 DJ Danton Thirroul
10.00-12.00 DJ Seán Clancy
12.00-13.00 Fashion Show in Dublin 3
13.00-14.00 Live Music with Frogg Marlowe & Jaycatt Nico
http://www.jaycattnico.com/ & http://www.froggmarlowe.com/
18.00-20.00 DJ Jocelyn Sands
Note - all times are Second Life time which is eight hours behind the Ireland. All events will take place on the stage on Grafton Street unless otherwise noted.