Fáilte Ireland has launched a €500k marketing campaign focused on bolstering Ireland’s off-season period that involves the boadcasting of ads across a number of national radio and television channels to entice Irish people to explore the Wild Atlantic Way this autumn.
Building on the "Embrace the Wild Atlantic Way of Life" campaign, which was launched earlier this year, the campaign highlights a variety of experiences to be had along the coastal route. It is expected that 94% of Irish adults will be exposed to the campaign over an eight week period running from August 21 to mid-October.
Commenting on the campaign, Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly explained, “Domestic performance along the Wild Atlantic Way, according to businesses on the ground, has been positive so far this year, and it is our hope that this campaign will further bolster this performance as we head out of the busy summer months into the shoulder season."
The Irish domestic market is a very important component of the tourism sector and has proven to be very robust in recent years. Last year’s performance was buoyant, with 4.8 million holiday/leisure trips taken, which was up 3.7% on 2015. Expenditure on domestic holidays in 2016 was €1.12 billion, representing a 5% increase on the previous year. Total nights spent on domestic leisure trips last year was estimated at just over 15 million, a 2% increase on the previous year, with the average length of a holiday trip being 3.1 nights. Visitors who stayed in hotel accommodation accounted for over 3.6 million domestic trips in 2016.
