The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Representatives of Clare County Council met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland in New York over St Patrick’s weekend. They were briefed on Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme for 2017, which is in full swing right now.
Tourism Ireland aims to build on the success of 2016, which was the fourth record-breaking year in a row for Irish tourism from the United States. Tourism Ireland is prioritising North America this year, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure. Our important ‘culturally curious’ and ‘social energiser’ audiences are being targeted with distinctive vacation experiences, events and special offers tailored to their interests.
Tourism Ireland is creating ‘stand out’ for the island of Ireland in the US, highlighting
experiences like the Wild Atlantic Way, the Causeway Coastal Route and Ireland’s Ancient East. Promotions aim to grow travel to the regions of Ireland, during the shoulder and off-peak seasons.
With the recent announcement by Norwegian of new flights to Ireland from New York (Stewart International Airport) and Providence (Rhode Island), the total number of transatlantic airline seats this summer will be 60,000, from 20 North American gateways to the island of Ireland – that’s 10,000 additional seats (+20%) compared to summer 2016.
Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said, “We were delighted to meet with the representatives of Clare County Council and to have the opportunity to brief them about the extensive promotional programme we are undertaking in the United States this year. Our ambition is to surpass the record-breaking performance of 2016 and to deliver a +9% increase in revenue and a +6% increase in visitor numbers from North America in 2017 i.e. €1.6 billion generated by 1.7 million visitors.
