Tourism Ireland launches £5M promotional campaign in GB

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Tourism Ireland has launched a £5 million, multi-media promotional campaign, to boost travel to Northern Ireland from GB over the coming months. The campaign, which is running under the banner ‘Northern Ireland – Embrace a Giant Spirit’, will be seen by millions and will reach at least 80% of all adults in GB. It will generate demand now and drive bookings for short breaks and holidays in Northern Ireland.

The extensive campaign will include advertising on major TV channels and on catch-up TV sites; digital outdoor advertising at more than 500 locations across GB; ads on popular digital and social channels; a partnership with The Guardian; as well as a busy programme of publicity. Co-operative promotions with air and sea carriers, as well as online travel agents, are also under way.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA, said: “Tourism is an enormously important industry for Northern Ireland and a key driver of our economy. In fact, before the pandemic hit us all, 2019 was the best year ever for overseas tourism to Northern Ireland, when we welcomed over 2.2 million overseas visitors, a significant number of which came from the GB market.

“We have a terrific product for visitors on offer across Northern Ireland, including the beautiful Causeway Coastal Route, the historic city of Londonderry, the fantastic lakelands of Fermanagh, and, of course, our capital city, Belfast, with our maritime history highlighted at Titanic Belfast, a truly world-class visitor attraction.

“The GB market is a vitally important one for our tourism industry and I am confident that this campaign will show the best of what Northern Ireland has to offer. With the TV ads alone set to be viewed by almost 13 million people across GB, I believe this campaign will help convince tourists to visit Northern Ireland. Our tour operators, visitor attractions and accommodation providers have worked hard to introduce new safety measures and precautions to help ensure visitors and staff are kept safe.”

Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “We are delighted to unveil our new £5 million campaign to promote Northern Ireland in GB – which will highlight our great cities, spectacular scenery and the many things to see and do here. As we begin to rebuild our tourism business from the all-important GB market, our aim is to remind prospective visitors that Northern Ireland is the perfect destination for a short break or holiday. Tourism Ireland will be pulling out all the stops to drive as much business as possible to Northern Ireland over the coming months.”

GB is an important market for tourism to Northern Ireland. Before COVID-19, in 2019, we welcomed almost 1.5 million GB visitors to Northern Ireland, whose visits generated £369 million in revenue.

« Back to Page

• Tourism Ireland Hosts Spanish Media to Showcase Northern Ireland Tourist Gems

• Tourism Ireland Unveils Spectacular Golf Campaign during 88th US Masters in Augusta

• Tourism Ireland Welcomes New Faces to Board: Karen Sugrue Hennessy and Paul Gallagher Appointed as Directors

• Tourism Ireland Partners with Lyric Theatre and Hillsborough Castle to Bring Agreement Drama to New York

• Tourism Ireland Reveals Belfast 2024 Events in Barcelona to Media and Travel Experts