Tourism Ireland have just launched details of a three year tourism plan. The aim of the three year plan (2020-2022) is to grow overseas tourism revenue to €6.54 billion which is an increase of +13% and visitor numbers taking vacations in Ireland to €12 million (a growth of 7%) by 2022.
The plan is designed to deliver further growth in overseas visitors and tourism and supporting industry across Ireland. Phase two of Tourism Ireland’s global campaign “Fill Your Heart with Ireland” was also revealed at the launch. The new ad features less visited attractions and locations, including Trim Castle, the Waterford Greenway amongst many others. By focusing on less visited attractions such as Trim Castle and Waterford Greenway hotels in Waterford and Meath for example will certainly benefit from this. From January 2020 Tourism Ireland’s new campaign will be rolled out in over 20 markets around the globe.
Additionally the period 2020 – 2022 is set to see Tourism Ireland redevelop its entire suite of Ireland.com websites. These websites attracted more than 23 million visitors seeing trips to Ireland in 2019 alone.
2019 saw a very mixed experience for Irish Tourism as a whole with slightly weaker demand and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, giving rise to consumer concern in Britain and mainland European markets as a whole. Estimates indicate that by year end, revenue generated by international visitors will be €5.78 billion which is a decrease of 1.4% compared to 2018 with an estimated 11.17 million people having visited the island of Ireland.
2020 is set to continue to present challenges surrounding Brexit which is likely to impact those seeking Ireland vacation deals and travel from Britain and some mainland European markets. Other challenges include the constraints on the availability of aircraft; particularly relating to the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX. Whilst recognising that various risks and challenges exist, Tourism Ireland are still aiming to grow overseas tourism revenue to €6.54 billion and visitor numbers to 12 million.