Mayo delegation visits Tourism Ireland in New York
REPRESENTATIVES of the Castlebar Municipal District and Mayo County Council, who are in New York for the St. Patrick’s Day period, met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland in New York this week. They were briefed on Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme for 2017, which is in full swing right now.
Tourism Ireland aims to build on the success of 2016, which was the fourth record-breaking year in a row for Irish tourism from the United States. Tourism Ireland is prioritising North America this year as a market which offers a strong return on investment in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure.
Our important ‘culturally curious’ and ‘social energiser’ audiences are being targeted with distinctive vacation experiences, events and special offers tailored to their interests.
Tourism Ireland is creating ‘stand out’ for the island of Ireland in the US, highlighting experiences like the Wild Atlantic Way. Promotions aim to grow travel to the regions of Ireland during the shoulder and off-peak seasons.
Said Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America: “We were delighted to meet with the representatives of the Castlebar Municipal District and Mayo County Council and to have the opportunity to brief them about the extensive promotional programme we are undertaking in the United States this year. Our ambition is to surpass the record-breaking performance of 2016 and to deliver a +9% increase in revenue and a +6% increase in visitor numbers from North America in 2017 i.e. €1.6 billion generated by 1.7 million visitors.
'St. Patrick’s Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us; our aim is to bring a smile to the faces of people everywhere and to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage.”
Over the coming week, Tourism Ireland will participate in a range of St. Patrick’s Day events across the United States. For the first time ever, One World Trade Center (the main building of the re-built World Trade Center complex in New York), La Concha Visitors Center at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas and the fireworks show at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, also in Las Vegas,, will participate in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative. Other major landmarks to be illuminated in green include the Empire State Building, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas and the world-famous Niagara Falls.
In Chicago, numerous buildings and sites across the city will be ‘seeing green’ – including Navy Pier, the John Hancock Center, the Civic Opera House, the Wrigley Building, Novak Construction, Sheraton Grand Hotel, State Street, Chicago Gaelic Park and One Prudential Plaza, as well as the Irish American Heritage Center, which joins the initiative for the first time.