Building on the success of the recent Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Fáilte Ireland is this week hosting a group of predominantly US golfing media in Ireland to play a number of courses on the Wild Atlantic Way. The promotion is being carried out in partnership with Tourism Ireland who market the island of Ireland overseas.
The group includes writers, broadcasters and online media from the US as well as Ben Smith, a top UK blogger. With a combined audience reach of over nine million, the travelling media who have just arrived from the British Open will play and experience first-hand a range of courses on their visit, including the course selected for next year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Lahinch Golf Club. Other courses on the itinerary include the Doonbeg Golf Club in Co. Clare as well as Dooks Golf Links, Killarney Golf Club (Killeen course) and the Tralee Golf Links in Co. Kerry.
Importance Of Promotion
Commenting on the importance of the trip, business development manager at Fáilte Ireland Martin Donnelly said, "Golf plays a significant role in Irish tourism and it is important that we do all we can to support the industry to reach key overseas markets, helping to boost visitor numbers across the country. We in Fáilte Ireland feel that it is important to fully promote what is available by assisting these top golf media in showcasing what Ireland has to offer. We know we can provide world class golfing, great value for money and fantastic holiday experiences to our international visitors with more than 400 golf courses throughout Ireland, many providing a great showcase of our spectacular and scenic landscapes.
"Hosting overseas media provides us with a platform to promote the rich golf offering we have in every corner of Ireland. We very much believe that golf can deliver increasing numbers of tourists into Ireland and we can ensure this happens through trips such as this, which help develop relationships with influential golfing media in key markets around the world."
Lucrative Sector
Golf tourism is a lucrative sector for Ireland with golfers being amongst the highest yielding visitors to Ireland. Ireland is home to a third of the world’s links golf courses, and over 200,000 overseas visitors take part in golf during their visit every year, contributing almost €270 million to the economy and driving over 1.7 million bed nights right across the country. Last year was a record year for the Wild Atlantic Way with over 3.5 million international and 4.3 million domestic visitors to the region.
© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
