TOURISM TSAR NEEDED TO ATTRACT BRITISH VISITORS TO IRELAND

Catastrophic Failure of Tourism Ireland’s British Marketing Strategy, say Hoteliers

15th September 2010

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today called on the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, TD, to appoint a dedicated Tourism Tsar to spearhead Ireland’s tourism marketing strategy in Britain. The IHF states that Ireland has experienced a catastrophic drop in visitors from Britain since 2008, down over 30 per cent, which has left many tourism businesses across the country struggling to survive. The drop in British visitors to Ireland has been twice that experienced by our European competitors who have been more successful in retaining British market share, indicating an abysmal failure of the current strategy for marketing Ireland to our nearest neighbour.

Paul Gallagher, President, IHF, states, “The British market is in freefall. Despite substantial investment in marketing Ireland to Britain, visitor numbers have fallen off a cliff. In terms of marketing, Ireland is clearly doing something wrong if we’re losing visitors from Britain at double the rate of our European competitors. Plain and simple, there has been a disastrous failure to re-energise the British market and get the message out that Ireland has tremendous value to offer as a holiday destination.”

 “Given the unprecedented collapse in visitor numbers, we’re calling on Minister Hanafin to respond with a sense of urgency and ensure the right person is at the reins to lead the marketing effort in Britain. We need a person with vision, a proven track record in international marketing and an in-depth understanding of our tourism product. In light of the additional challenges facing the British economy as austerity measures come online later this year, we need to do everything in our power now to reverse the downward trend before things deteriorates further.”

While, the IHF recognises that economic factors have contributed to the fall in visitors from Britain, it maintains that the over-riding issue has been an inability of Tourism Ireland to effectively communicate the enormous range of cultural and scenic attractions on offer in Ireland and the tremendous value that now exists.  The IHF states that the appointment of a Tourism Tsar for Britain must be backed up with appropriate financial investment targeting creative marketing campaigns that give Ireland a competitive advantage in attracting visitors from our main market. 

Mr Gallagher states that the appointment of a Tourism Tsar for the British market would resuscitate Ireland’s marketing efforts and provide greater focus in attracting visitors from our nearest neighbour. He says, “On the ground, hotels and guesthouses are witnessing further declines in holiday-makers from Britain and we are bracing ourselves for a total drop of 16 per cent in 2010 alone. This loss in market share, added to losses in the previous two years, represents an absolute failure to build interest and enthusiasm for our product among potential visitors from Britain. This is all the more worrying when one considers the tremendous selling points Ireland has to offer in terms of value, accessibility and range of cultural and scenic attractions.”

ENDS

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