The annual Cannes Film Festival kicked off last week, with thousands of people descending upon the French city.
Tourism Ireland arranged for a short Ireland video to run on a big screen in a prominent location on the Croisette, the famous boulevard in central Cannes. The ad is being shown on the big screen for the duration of the 12-day festival and will be seen by around 330,000 people. It includes images of the Dark Hedges and Skellig Michael – reminding festival-goers about Ireland's connections to Game of Thrones and Star Wars.
France is one of the top four markets for tourism to Ireland and 2017 was the fifth record-breaking year in a row for French visitors to Ireland.
“The fact that both Game of Thrones and Star Wars were shot on location on the island of Ireland has been a truly fantastic coup for tourism, presenting Tourism Ireland with a superb opportunity to highlight Northern Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way,” said Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland’s manager Southern Europe. “So, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to promote the island of Ireland at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and to remind festival-goers about our links to Game of Thrones and Star Wars.
“2017 was the best year ever for tourism from France to the island of Ireland, when we welcomed around 550,000 French visitors. In 2018, we are rolling out another extensive programme of promotional activity, to keep the momentum going and build on that growth.”
© 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.
