A brand new advertising campaign to promote holidaying at home within the Irish market in 2010 was launched this week by Failte Ireland. The new marketing campaign is rooted in extensive consumer research and consultation with the tourism industry and will be broadcast publicly from 5th March 2010.

This research, carried out by Failte Ireland, shows that the perception of Ireland as a good value destination has risen from 49% to 61% since the beginning of 2008. This important shift in perception has influenced Failte Ireland’s new marketing strategy.

The campaign aims to position Ireland as a fun, exciting, enriching holiday destination and reinforce the existing perceptions of a destination that is both convenient and good value for money.

This will be emphasised using a broader mix of channels and technology to maximise the reach and impact of its core messages. The campaign will include:

• a new television advertisement;
• radio and cinema advertising;
• print and online marketing;
• an enhanced Discover Ireland website.

Failte Ireland’s Director of Market Development, John Concannon pointed out that:

“In recent years, the key themes of our advertising were convenience and the good value to be found when holidaying at home. The fact that more than six out of ten respondents now agree that Ireland is a good value destination reflects the recent realignment of prices and value in the tourism sector and means that the value argument, long a bugbear in the home holiday market, is no longer such an issue.

“No longer having to deal with ‘why not’ factors such as price and value, this year we are freer to stress the ‘why and what to’ reasons for taking a break at home – the variety of things to do and see. “

The research also emphasises that the need to ‘have fun together’ is a key motivator for Irish people when deciding whether to take breaks and holidays at home. John Concannon explained:

“Our detailed research is telling us that people want to escape the current doom and gloom. They want to get away from the daily diet of bad news and reconnect with their friends, family and partners. In many ways, they want to get lost for a while in something or somewhere which will engage them physically or mentally.”

This advertising activity will be complemented by a major initiative around special offers in 2010. This initiative will highlight special offers from the industry via national and regional press inserts, a significantly enhanced home holidays website discoverireland.ie (used in the planning of 36% of holidays last year), and a multi-media special offers campaign.