review wtm london uk & ireland
Open drives golf tourism in Ireland T
ourism Ireland has begun marketing to golf enthusiasts and trade partners in the lead-up to the 148th Open, when the championship makes a historic return to Northern Ireland after an absence of nearly 70 years. The tournament will be played at Royal Portrush in July on the newly revamped Dunluce links. The course is just seven miles from the famous natural attraction of the Giant’s Causeway, and a walk between the two can also take in Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. This autumn, Tourism Ireland hosted golf journalists from Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, China and Australia. They played several courses across the island during their visits, including Royal Portrush, where the Open was last played in 1951.
The tourist board also exhibited alongside golf operators at International Golf Travel Market in Slovenia and put out a ‘home of champions’ themed TV advert in the US during the Ryder Cup. Tourism Ireland’s director of markets Siobhan McManamy said: “We have an extensive programme of promotions under way, to highlight
our world-class golf off ering and encourage more people to consider a golfi ng holiday in orthern Ireland. “Golf is the world’s largest sports-related travel market, and we are working hard to drive home the message that a golfi ng holiday in Northern Ireland is about much more than just a round of 18 holes – the combination of our world-class courses and our unique brand of hospitality plays a key role in attracting golfers.” Meanwhile, screen tourism continues to be another promising niche for Ireland, with the last Star Wars fi lm prompting more visitors to the Wild Atlantic Way and Northern Ireland’s Game of Thrones locations still drawing many fans. Tourism Ireland recorded an 8.7%
Tourism Ireland hopes a historic return for the Open to Royal Portrush will help boost golf tourism to the island
growth in overseas visitor spend and 11% growth in leisure visitors to the destination for the fi rst half of 201.
Travelling through time F
ifteen of England’s Historic Cities have joined the City of London to promote a new touring option. The destinations have come together under
England riginals, which off ers fi ve new pre-bookable itineraries lasting three or four days, each with a diff erent theme. The iscover England-funded project is designed to present rail-based itineraries as one product for the travel trade to package and sell. Examples include the Thinkers and Writers Tour, which visits Oxford, Worcester and Stratford Upon Avon; and the Time Travellers Tour, which includes Greenwich, Canterbury and Cambridge. A Western Wonders Tour features Truro, Bath and Salisbury. All encourage visitors to begin or end their tours in the City of London. It’s the fi rst time these historic British cities have come together to promote themselves, aiming at a younger audience,” said a spokesperson.
Brand establishment leads to GB success
T
he GREAT Britain marketing campaign took its inspiration from other tourist boards
despite travel only being a part of it, its creator told WTM London. Conrad Bird, director of the GREAT Britain Campaign at the UK Department for International Trade, said: “We drew heavily on things like 100% Pure New Zealand and Incredible !ndia; they are more than just tourism campaigns, they are establishing a brand over time.” He said the hugely successful initiative had boosted tourism to Great Britain despite not being dedicated specifi cally to travel.
“It was an integrated campaign, of which tourism is a very important part. We achieved an ROI (return on investment) of 20-25 to one,” he said. Within the GREAT Britain strategy
were a number of micro campaigns, including Love is GREAT, aimed at the LGBT sector. “It says something bigger about the values you have,” he said. Another micro campaign urged young people to go camping, thereby boosting domestic tourism.
22 wtm insights winter 2018
The logo is used in 147
countries, in 96% of Foreign ffi ce
outposts and by 115 cultural organisations. “We run 120-150 GREAT Britain events every month around the world – we count WTM among them – and encourage embassies to use the brand.” Government campaigns, he said
Conrad Bird stressed the importance of objectives
were planned around the OASIS principle: “Objectives, Audience Insight, Strategy/Idea, Implementation, Scoring Evaluation. If you don’t have objectives at the start, you don’t know what you are trying to achieve,” he advised. Bird said WTM London “shows the success of the travel market and the intensity of the competition out there. It’s very, very interesting; the range of messages and also the similarities between them”.
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