Tourism Ireland targets +20% growth in Australian visitors
High spend and length of stay are key positives for Australia travel market
Australia offers significant potential for Irish tourism, according to a new Tourism Ireland strategy launched today by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD.
The new, three-year strategy for growth sets out challenging and ambitious targets which will see the number of Australian visitors grow by +20%, representing almost 220,000 visitors to the island of Ireland, by the end of 2017.
Under Tourism Ireland’s new strategy, Ireland will be positioned to complement, rather than compete with, the most popular European destinations which are the main draw for Australians. When Australians decide to take a long-haul trip to Europe, Ireland then becomes a viable destination as part of that trip. Ireland will also be positioned to compete robustly with other destinations that could potentially divert Australian travellers away from Ireland.
The aim is to position Ireland as the ideal starting point for a European trip, emphasising that it is easy to reach, with frequent, one-stop flights. To compete with some of the iconic attractions of other European destinations, Tourism Ireland will showcase many of the unique, ‘must do’ experiences that are most likely to resonate with the target groups in the Australian market.
The strategy sets out how Tourism Ireland will focus on Ireland’s ‘best prospect’ audiences – those segments of the overall Australian outbound tourism market who represent the highest potential for travel to Ireland. Tourism Ireland will highlight experiences and messages that resonate strongly with these audiences, reaching them where they are most likely to be seeking travel information and advice.
Minister Donohoe said: “The Government recently launched a new policy for tourism – ‘People, Place and Policy – Growing Tourism to 2025’ – which will see us grow overseas visit numbers to 10 million a year by 2025 and generate €5 billion a year in overseas tourism revenue; an increase of €1.5 billion on the 2014 figure. This will bring employment in the hospitality sector to 250,000 jobs. That’s an ambitious but realisable target for all of our industry. The work of delivering that growth is already under way and today brings another important building block with this Australian Review and the growth targets it contains. As we plan for continued tourism growth from all our overseas markets, Australia will have an important role to play in helping to sustain our tourism sector, our economy and to both sustain and create jobs in communities right across the country.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Australia has performed well for tourism to the island of Ireland in recent years and the future is undoubtedly bright. We believe this is a market of considerable potential for Ireland over the coming years – given that these high-spending visitors travel right throughout the year and enjoy exploring the regions of Ireland. However, we can’t take this performance for granted; we need to adapt and respond to new opportunities to ensure that success continues. Building on the strong performance of recent years, and the increased number of one-stop flights via the Middle East, we have set challenging targets for the 2015-2017 period. I am confident that this new, focused strategy will deliver on the targets we have set for growth in Australian visitors, between now and 2017.”
The new Tourism Ireland strategy has been developed in close co-operation with a wide range of industry partners, at home and in Australia. It has identified the opportunities which will drive accelerated growth from Australia to Ireland over the coming threeyears.
The Australian outbound travel market in general has seen remarkable growth in recent years. Australians took more than 14 million trips overseas in 2013; and more than one third of all those trips were made to Europe.
Notes to Editors:
Tourism Ireland’s strategy
Tourism Ireland’s new strategy has identified the various challenges and opportunities that face Ireland between now and 2017. The areaswhich will help to deliver the ambitious growth targets include:
- Focusing on our ‘best prospect’ audiences
Tourism Ireland will prioritise two key audiences – ‘culturally curious’ and ‘social energiser’ Australian holidaymakers – who represent the highest potential for travel to Ireland. The culturally curious tend to be discerning travellers who want to expand their horizons by exploring landscapes, heritage and culture. They are usually older, with no children at home (many are aged between 51 and 64). Social energisers are looking for new experiences in unique locations; they tend to be under 35 and don’t yet have a family (many are in their early twenties). Tourism Ireland will highlight experiences and messages that resonate strongly with both audiences, reaching them where they are most likely to be seeking travel information and advice.
- Presenting Ireland as a ‘must do’ destination in Europe
When Australians decide to take a long-haul trip to Europe, Ireland becomes a viable choice of destination. To ensure Ireland is definitely part of that European trip, Ireland must:
(a) complement the most popular European destinations which are the main draw for Australians. The three most popular are England, France and Italy; we do not have to compete with these destinations – but should instead seek to complement them as part of one European trip; and
(b) compete robustly with destinations that could potentially divert Australian travellers away from Ireland. These include their second tier choices of European destinations, such as Spain and Germany; as well as similar destinations to Ireland, such as Scotland and Wales.
- Collaborating with key partners
Travel intermediaries are important sources of holiday inspiration – seeding ideas about potential destinations during the decision process, planning and booking. This network of influencers includes travel agents (both traditional and online), tour operators and wholesalers, as well as airlines. Tourism Ireland will collaborate with those intermediaries who have the widest distribution and most effective reach; and will encourage its Australian travel partners to refresh their Ireland offering, to ensure it is more relevant to our target audiences. The organisation will provide travel agents with education and sales tools, to ensure Ireland remains ‘front of mind’ for them among European destinations; and will collaborate with airlines, to further highlight ease of access and great value fares to Ireland, via hubs in Britain, Mainland Europe and the Middle East.
- Strengthening our message to potential holidaymakers
To stand out from our competitors, Tourism Ireland will position Ireland as a vibrant, fun, somewhat wild place on the edge of Europe (both literally and culturally). The organisation will highlight that Ireland is easy to reach, with frequent, one-stop flights; and is a low-stress, familiar place which is the ideal starting point for a European trip (Australians can adjust to a different environment before travelling on to a continent with foreign languages and culture). To compete with some of the iconic attractions of other European destinations, Tourism Ireland will showcase our many unique, ‘must do’ experiences – including journeys like the Wild Atlantic Way, Causeway Coastal Route and Ireland’s Ancient East; unmissable attractions like the Guinness Storehouse, the Giant’s Causeway (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Cliffs of Moher; rural towns and villages, each with their own character; food and drink from our farms and coast, with a focus on fresh produce and innovative cuisine; as well as sport – whether as a participant or spectator, from golf to GAA.
As well as advertising and publicity through traditional media, Tourism Ireland will communicate through a range of digital platforms. Social media – including Facebook (Tourism Ireland has more than 40,000 Facebook fans in Australia and almost 3 million worldwide) and Twitter (8,500 followers in Australia) – will also be used extensively, to generate positive word-of-mouth about Ireland.
Key factors working in our favour to enable this growth include:
– recent strong performance: since 2010, visitors from Australia to the island of Ireland have grown by more than +40%. In 2014, more than 180,000 Australians visited the island of Ireland;
– strong cultural affinity: we share many things with Australians, including language, heritage, our sense of humour and our love of sport (we even drive on the same side of the road!);
– improved air access: there are twice-daily, one-stop flights now available between Australia and Ireland (via the Middle East). Australians who are visiting Britain and Mainland Europe can also avail of excellent connectivity from major British and Mainland European hubs like London, Paris and Amsterdam for onward travel to Ireland;
– high value visitors: Australians are highly prized visitors as they travel throughout the year, stay longer (on average 12 nights), spend more (about €900 – almost double the average visitor spend) and visit more of the regions of Ireland (Australians like to get off the beaten track – so are more likely than other nationalities to tour the regions and more rural areas of Ireland).
ENDS