TOURISM Ireland has launched its first ‘Ireland Specialists’ eLearning platform, to assist travel agents and tour operators in the GCC in promoting Ireland as an attractive tourism destination. The UAE is the first of eight global Tourism Ireland markets to launch the programme in January 2014.
Prime Minister of Ireland, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, visited the UAE with an Irish delegation and launched the eLearning initiative at a Tourism Ireland event for travel trade in Dubai accompanied by CEO of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons, and Hemant Baheti, leisure manager at Kanoo Travel, who was recognised during the event as the UAE’s first qualified ‘Ireland Specialist’.
Last year, Ireland welcomed eight million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland, contributing €3.64 billion ($4.95 billion) to the Irish economy. The GCC accounted for 45,000 of those visitors, representing a seven per cent increase on the previous year.
As part of continued investment into the region in light of steadily increasing visitor numbers, Tourism Ireland launches this new training platform to further strengthen the connection and enhance communications between Ireland and travel trade partners in the GCC.
‘Ireland Specialists’ is free to use and equips local travel trade with specialist knowledge of Ireland in an engaging and easy-to-digest online format. The programme has been developed after extensive research into the travel industry and following redevelopment of existing eLearning initiatives. In its launch year, Tourism Ireland hopes to recruit 500 travel agents to sign up to the ‘Ireland Specialists’ programme.
Gibbons says: “The increase in visitor numbers to Ireland from this region, fuelled in part by The Gathering Ireland 2013 and other ongoing marketing activities, is highly encouraging and sets the right tempo for continued growth in 2014.”
Tourism Ireland is placing increased emphasis on its digital efforts in the region, which includes the development of its first ever Arabic language consumer website, which launches to the public early 2014. Tourism Ireland is also growing its social media presence across platforms including Facebook and Twitter as well as continue developing other online communications including regular trade eZines, to supplement its traditional trade marketing activity.
Participants enrolled in the ‘Ireland Specialists’ programme will have the opportunity to test their Ireland knowledge in fun and engaging ways with competitions and prizes to incentivise trade.
The programme is divided across six modules, making eLearning more manageable. Upon successful completion of the programme, travel trade earn either Silver or Gold Ireland Specialists accreditation – which can be printed and displayed in trade offices. 2013 saw growth from all markets for tourism into Ireland, and record performances.
This year, Tourism Ireland launches a number of initiatives in a bid to woo more travellers from the GCC, including the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way in March 2014 – set to become the world’s longest defined touring coastal route.