Tourism pundits up in Ireland have been very optimistic about the country’s tourism prospects this year, expecting 2015 to be one of their ‘best year yet’. And why not? Arrivals from France have gone up 26 per cent in part due to increased connectivity between Paris and Dublin, Italy rose 36 per cent and Spain 28 per cent so far in 2015.
GCC INTEREST GROWS
“Last year, we saw a 10 per cent increase from the GCC, about 50,000 visitors, and for us, this is a large number,” general manager of Irish Tourism, Amanda Burns tells TTN during the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market. This growth has been helped by ease the access, she explains. Last year, both Emirates and Etihad launched double daily flights to Dublin, so now Ireland has four flights coming in daily.
The rising popularity of Ireland can also be attributed in part to its visa policy. “We have an Irish visa waiver scheme, which enables visitors who have a UK visa to visit Ireland freely.”
Besides, there has been an evolving product base and exciting innovations in terms of packages that have also fuelled this growth. “We expect double digit growth this year as well,” says Burns.
Due to Emirates and Etihad, UAE is the top market for Ireland currently among the GCC nations. “Saudis and Kuwaitis are also showing promising growth. We realise that in the GCC we have two core markets – we target both the locals and the expatriates.
“Although their numbers are smaller compared to arrivals from other parts of the world, GCC guests tend to spend a lot more than the average tourist to Ireland and therefore they are so important to our economy.”
PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION
So the most obvious question is, how is Ireland different from Britain?
“This is what our visitors tell us time and time again,” says she, “that the warmth and the hospitality, the friendliness of the Irish people is quite unique and often takes visitors by surprise. I can vouch for this. I’m English.”
If an Irish person sees you with a map on the street, she continues with a smile, nine times out of ten someone will come up to you and ask, “Are you lost?” and try to help. This makes visitors feel relaxed and at home.
“A lot of the tourists come to Ireland for the natural beauty, it’s very coastal. The cities are very accessible too. One minute you’re shopping in Brown Thomas, up and down Grafton Street, having tea at the Merrion Hotel, or you can be sailing up the River Liffey and out on the Dublin Bay.”
The tourism product in Ireland is unique, where things are more accessible and a lot more can be packed in a day, even at a leisurely pace.
TOURISM HIGHLIGHTS
The Wild Atlantic Way is beautiful coastal 2,500 kilometres long drive on the West coast of Ireland and has lots of interesting stops on the way. Stretching from Donegal’s Malin Head in the North to Cork’s Mizen Head in the South, this is the longest defined coastal drive in the world.
The Causeway Coastal Route is another scenic coastal drive, which is located on the north of the island connection the cities of Belfast and Londonderry.
“A lot of Game Of Thrones has been shot in Northern Ireland,” Burns says, “so you will see a lot of stunning scenery along the coastal way. There are Unesco world heritage sites, the Giant’s Causeway, a rope bridge not for the intrepid.”
This year, the Gobbins pathway has been renewed from a Victorian structure – it feels like you’re walking over water.”
Ireland’s cities also hold their own against the stunning coastal countryside.
“There’s so much more to Dublin than stag and hen parties. I was on a food walking tours last week that took me on a trail of five or six really unique producers of food, artisan producers over two to three hours. Dublin is also the fourth Unesco City of Literature, home to lots of famous writers.”
North of Dublin is Belfast. “Not a lot of people know this but the Titanic was built in Belfast and the sight now has a wonderful museum that gives insight into the building of the historic ship and its continuing story due to the film.”
Next year, Ireland will be launching its ancient East, which is about the ancient East Coast of Ireland steeped in legends, from ancient times, medieval then to Anglo Ireland.
WORKING WITH THE TRADE
“The travel industry in the GCC region is very important to us.”
“On a strategic level, we work on a cooperative marketing basis, promoting Ireland.
“We also do a couple of familiarisation trips each year.
“Our travel trade training programme, which we launched last year, is a great tool. I encourage anyone in the trade involved in the business of selling packages to Ireland to register online for this course.
“As an incentive we choose two top-performing agents to participate in a mega fam trip. That’s happening this June.
“Two agents from the GCC have been selected to come over and experience Ireland first-hand. They will then compete with the specialists we have chosen from all over the world to become the ultimate Ireland Specialist for the year.”
By Rashi Sen