Wild Atlantic Way ad blitz to target domestic travel
A major advertising blitz is getting underway aimed at boosting off-season tourism along the Wild Atlantic Way.
€500,000 is being spent promoting the route on radio, TV and online in a campaign running until mid-October.
Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly said: "The domestic market is an important element of Ireland’s overall tourism sector and our home holiday marketing activity is geared at boosting visitor numbers outside of the busy summer months.
"Fáilte Ireland also maintains a watchful eye on those counties who are most likely to suffer lower visitor numbers along the border as a result of Brexit. (We hope) this autumn campaign will encourage more domestic visitors to consider a break in counties located outside of the main hotspots such as Donegal, Sligo and Mayo, which all feature strongly in the campaign."
Last year saw 4.8 million holiday/leisure trips taken by Irish people within Ireland, up 3.7% on 2015. Spending in 2016 was €1.12bn, a 5% increase on the previous years.
Total nights spent on domestic leisure trips last year was estimated at just over 15 million, a 2% increase on the previous year, with the average length of holiday trip at 3.1 nights. Visitors who stayed in hotel accommodation accounted for over 3.6 million domestic trips in 2016.
