On the back of another record year for overseas tourism, Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism Séamus Brennan T.D. today launched details of Tourism Ireland’s overseas marketing plans and growth strategy for 2008, at an event attended by tourism industry leaders in Dublin. Preliminary figures for 2007 show that revenue and visitor performance will surpass that of our European competitors, resulting in an increase in market share over top traditional competitor markets.
For 2007, revenue generated by overseas tourism is forecast to grow to €4.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% on 2006 and for the first time ever, visitor numbers will top 9 million, an increase of 4.6%, an additional 400,000+ visitors this year. The star market performer in 2007 was once again Mainland Europe which maintained double digit growth, followed by a more moderate outturn from North America, Great Britain and New and Developing Markets. Current forecasts indicate that promotable visitor numbers (those who come here for holidays, to learn English as a foreign language and those attending conferences or on incentive trips) will grow to 4.2 million, an increase of 6.8%.
Welcoming the impressive revenue and visitor numbers growth, Séamus Brennan T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, said that 9 million overseas visitors represented another record performance for tourism to the island which, once again in 2007, outstripped the growth rates recorded by competitor destinations. The island of Ireland has continued to win market share in 2007, despite the increasingly competitive market environment. Looking to 2008, the Minister said that “in light of the increasing uncertainty in the economic situation and exchange rates in two of our key markets - Great Britain and North America - Mainland Europe will become an increasingly important market for Ireland next year. While we will continue to market vigorously in both Great Britain and North America, it will also be important for the tourism industry to look at business potential in new and developing markets such as China and India. These markets, according to the World Tourism Organisation, will be the fastest growing outbound markets of the future and offer huge business potential in the medium to long term.”
Speaking at the launch, Paul O’Toole, Chief Executive Tourism Ireland, said Tourism Ireland aims to continue to grow tourism to the island of Ireland at a higher rate of growth than international tourism. “Our target next year is to grow visitor numbers to 9.6 million and revenue to €4.9 billion. Over the lifetime of our Corporate Plan 2008–2010, tourism has the potential to generate over €16.1b for the island of Ireland in overseas earnings (not including fares to carriers). This is an increase of 24.2% in current terms over the period.”
“These revenue targets are particularly ambitious, given the uncertain trading environment which is emerging in some of our core markets and at a time when the consumer has more choice and is more value-conscious than ever. In addition, declining length of stay – as consumers opt for more frequent, shorter breaks - is putting further pressure on visitor spend. However, I believe we are up to the challenge and working in close partnership with the industry in Ireland and overseas, sea and air carriers, and our colleagues in Fáilte Ireland and NITB, we can deliver,” said Paul O’Toole.
Key target markets for 2008 will continue to be Great Britain, Mainland Europe and North America, which account for over 80% of our visitors. For the first time ever, Tourism Ireland will market directly to consumers in China and India, which have been identified as two of the best prospects for Irish tourism in a major review of New and Developing tourism markets* undertaken by Tourism Ireland during the year. The importance of these markets is underlined by the fact that visitors stay 14 nights, twice as long as the average holidaymaker, and have the highest spend per visitor at €782. In addition, visitors from these markets have a higher propensity to travel throughout the island of Ireland, making a significant economic contribution to numerous tourism sectors.
Details of Tourism Ireland’s comprehensive review of the Ireland brand** were also revealed to industry at the Dublin launch today. The review indicated that the island of Ireland brand remains very motivating and attractive to visitors and that the holiday experience here, generally, meets or exceeds their expectations. “People and Place” remain the primary differentiators over other destinations when it comes to visitors choosing Ireland as a holiday destination, the review confirmed. However, it also confirmed that, in this highly competitive global marketplace, the Ireland brand will need to differentiate itself even more strongly if we are to deliver the required growth in overseas revenue and visitor numbers.
To reflect that heightened differentiating factor, Tourism Ireland has evolved the brand model to place more focus on unique Character and Characters of the island of Ireland, which has been endorsed as the new expression for the brand. Future brand communications will aim to be unique and differentiating by portraying the specific activities and experiences of a holiday here through the character of the people and place. The findings of the brand review will be implemented in Tourism Ireland’s evolving strategy in 2008 and the organisation is planning to develop and produce a new marketing campaign next year, in time for launch in 2009.
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Further information:
Sinéad Grace, Tourism Ireland, Tel: 01 476 3493/ 087 685 9027
Mary McCarthy/Louise Cassidy, Weber Shandwick,
Tel: 01 676 0168 / (Mary) 086 256 8429 / (Louise) 086 383 5727
Note to Editors:
2008 Targets
* €5/£3.3 billion in tourism revenue (+7.7%) driven by 9.6 million visitors (+5.2%)/4.5 million promotable visitors (+5.7%)
* Within the overall targets, Tourism Ireland has set the following preliminary targets: Mainland Europe (+10%), Great Britain (+2.3%), North America (+6%) and New and Developing Markets (+7.8%).
*Review of New and Developing tourism markets:
The review of Ireland’s new and developing tourism markets was undertaken in 19 new and developing markets outside Europe and North America, including Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. (Australia and New Zealand were excluded as they are considered to be more mature markets to the island of Ireland). The review will be launched before the end of the year
**Review of the island of Ireland Tourism Brand:
The review of the island of Ireland Tourism Brand was undertaken by Tourism Ireland during 2007 with assistance from international brand specialists Enterprise IG, industry partners throughout the island of Ireland, overseas consumers in key markets, Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and other partners at home and abroad.