Tourism Ireland will launched a major TV advertising campaign in France over the weekend – specially timed to coincide with the Ireland v France Six Nations opening match in Paris.
The campaign will run for five weeks and will reach almost 18 million viewers around France – or potential holidaymakers for Ireland – on two of the country’s main TV channels, France 2 and France 3, as well as on a range of popular satellite channels.
As well as the TV campaign, a separate online campaign will reach almost 14 million people – via catch-up TV sites, YouTube and Facebook. The ads will highlight the wide variety of things to see and do here, as well as Ireland's warm welcome for visitors – encouraging French holidaymakers to put Ireland on their holiday ‘wish-list’ for 2018. The online ads will also feature an attractive offer from airlines and ferry companies, including Aer Lingus, Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries and Transavia – to encourage French travellers to book now.
France is one of the top four markets for tourism to the island of Ireland and 2017 was the fifth record-breaking year in a row for French visitors to Ireland.
“2017 was the best year ever for Irish tourism from France, when we welcomed almost 550,000 French visitors,” said Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland’s Manager for Southern Europe. “We are now focused on the year ahead. We’re delighted to launch our TV campaign this weekend, when so many French will be watching the opening game of the Six Nations tournament against Ireland. Our aim is to build on the success of the past few years and continue to grow French visitor numbers.”
