News Release -
Shannon Development sets ambitious target of 5% tourism growth by 2007
Development Company launches 2006 Tourism Marketing Plans
Shannon Development, the tourism authority for the Shannon Region, has set itself an ambitious target of increasing tourism growth to the Shannon Region by 5% over the next year. “At their recent regional tourism road shows, national tourism agencies agreed that overall tourism growth did not filter down to the Regions last year. To ensure that this does not happen in our Region this year we have set ourselves an ambitious target of increasing tourism growth by 5%, and ensuring that this growth is spread more evenly throughout the Shannon Region which comprises counties Limerick, Clare, North Tipperary and South Offaly,” says John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development.
Mr. King was speaking at a Shannon Development tourism briefing held in Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel, Adare, Co. Limerick, for members of the tourism trade in Co. Limerick. The briefing was the first of a series of three which is taking place in counties around the Shannon Region over the coming week. The purpose of the briefings was to launch the Company’s 2006 tourism marketing plans and to discuss how County Limerick and Shannon Region tourism interests can capitalise on opportunities during the coming year.
Increased traffic through Shannon International Airport with the introduction of new services from the UK and Europe operated by Ryanair, from Boston by American Airlines, and in more recent times from Warsaw, all had a positive impact on the Shannon Region tourism industry during 2005. For the first time ever, Shannon International Airport recorded 3.3 million visitors, and the Ryanair announcement of four new routes from its Shannon base to Manchester, Wroclaw, Rome and Murcia, will continue to impact positively during 2006.
A recent Shannon Development barometer survey among members of the Shannon Region Tourism Trade revealed that 71% of people interview reported a benefit from the increased level of flights at Shannon International Airport. 67% of those interviewed said they were optimistic of a good performance during 2006.
“One of the problems that we have identified is that, in line with trends in other regions around Ireland, tourism growth is not being felt in rural areas”, said Mr. King who outlined a number of positive actions Shannon Development proposes to take to play its part in addressing this imbalance.
“Partnership will be key for success during 2006. We have seen the benefits that working in partnership can bring, from the success of the Sectoral marketing groups, to the equal success of Meet Limerick – Shannon conference bureau which was initiated by Shannon Development. Just to cite one example of where partnership worked, last year 340 media visits were arranged to the Region by Shannon Development working with the Shannon Region tourism trade, Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland. The results to-date are 500 major articles and broadcasts on the region, worth €15,000,000 in equivalent advertising value. Nationally there were 1,300 media visits in total which generated media coverage valued at €65 million. This means that the Shannon Region secured over 26% of all travel media who visited Ireland during 2005, this represents twice the national average, a considerable achievement. This figure excludes US media visits”, he said.
Shannon Development Tourism Marketing 2006 Plans include:
- During 2006 Shannon Development will again team up with Ireland West Tourism and North-West Tourism to promote the West of Ireland as a holiday destination. Over €1.2 million will be spent on promotion and related activities in the UK, US, and key European markets, with the objective of enticing more visitors to holiday in the West. In 2003 Shannon Development led the creation of a Western Regions Alliance to promote overseas tourism in the three Western Regions; the Shannon Region, Ireland North West Tourism and Ireland West Tourism, the grouping also undertook an extensive overseas promotional campaign last year.
- Ireland’s Western Regions attract almost 2.3 million visitors each year and employs 76,000 – more than one third of the entire tourism workforce. Overseas visitors spent over 12 million bednights in the West of Ireland in 2004, worth over €900 million to the economy. This accounts for over 28% of Ireland’s overseas tourist revenue.
- To grow this market even further the Western Regions, working with Shannon Airport, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, will again undertake a major consumer advertising campaign in the UK. It will also enhance and promote its www.GoWestIreland.com website. Working with its partners Shannon Development will also be linking with both air and sea carriers to attract in more fly drive and own-car holidaymakers encouraging them to move through and explore the Western Regions.
- With a record 3.3 million visitor through Shannon International Airport in 2005, and new routes due to be launched shortly, Shannon Development plans to undertake promotional initiatives in the markets where the new and existing Shannon flights originate. These activities will vary from market to market but will include consumer advertising, sales calls programmes, e-marketing initiatives and attendance at trade, consumer and special interest holiday shows in the UK, United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Sweden. It will also involve working with airlines to ensure travel media visits to the Region.
- Shannon Development will continue to work with several different tourism sectors (angling, golf, walking, cycling, equestrian, conference and incentive and hoteliers) and areas in the Shannon Region and have helped formulate plans to both support and benefit from the new access services. These include attendance at key overseas Sectoral shows in markets with easy access to Shannon Airport as well e-marketing initiatives targeting special interest visitors.
- Many of these Sectoral groups now identify their own group marketing priorities and work toward achieving these on a co-operative basis. Golf, which is an important sector for the Region, will be an extremely important market for the Region in 2006. The Company, working with Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, has a linked advertising campaign around the prestigious Ryder Cup that will begin in March 2006.
- During 2006 Shannon Development, in conjunction with the Region's tourist industry, will participate in 24 overseas trade, consumer and special interest promotional events including World Travel Market, and other promotions in the UK, North America, Germany, France, Poland, Italy and Spain. The promotional locations chosen were almost always markets with direct flights to Shannon International Airport, and in many cases the operating airlines were also partners in these promotions.
- Shannon Development will be linking to and supporting the efforts of Tourism Ireland who will be increasing their promotional focus on the entire West of Ireland in the North American market during 2006.
- Shannon Development will also be linking with Tourism Ireland who are undertaking various ‘Region to Region’ initiatives in Continental Europe in 2006. Under this initiative the three Western Regions of Ireland have again combined to be Tourism Ireland’s ‘priority profile’ regions in France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg as well as in the emerging Czechoslovakian and Polish markets. In addition to these markets, the UK, Poland, Spain, and Italy assume greater importance in Shannon Development’s plans because of new direct flights to Shannon.
- Shannon Development is producing a new ‘Destinations Brochure’ for distribution in markets including: the UK, North American, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. It will be produced in 10 languages and will highlight the lure of the Shannon Region and the superb range of visitor attractions.
- During 2006 Shannon Development will continue to promote Limerick as ‘Sports City’, building on the growing reputation of the City and its wider hinterland as a venue for sports events. The initiative will target event organisers. During the year Shannon Development will also continue its work with a range of partners including the Limerick Trade Association, Limerick City Council, University of Limerick, Meet Limerick Shannon, and the Limerick Riverside City Project, to increase the profile of Limerick as an international tourist destination.
- The Limerick Riverside City Project is a major partnership project, involving Shannon Development, Limerick City Council, Limerick and Clare County Councils, Shannon Foynes Port Company, the University of Limerick, Waterways Ireland, Limerick Civic Trust, the Limerick Co-ordination Office, as well as many other institutions. The restoration of the Park Canal is the jewel in the crown of the Riverside City initiative. Once complete, it will provide a tangible link between the medieval city of Limerick and the University of Limerick campus. The objective is to make the Park Canal a catalyst for residential, commercial, leisure and tourist related developments that will complement the substantial investment that has already taken place in the city centre.
- Conscious that the Internet is playing an increasing role in the planning and booking of holidays in Ireland, Shannon Development reshaped and widened the content of their Shannon Region tourism website www.ShannonRegionTourism.ie making it more informative and user friendly, inputting more of the Region’s tourism product, and promoting it more aggressively. Shannon Development also introduced its ‘Shannon Calling’ ezine on-line newsletter, and three issues were produced in the last quarter of 2005. Eight to ten issues of the ezine will be produced in 2006 and distributed to tourism trade and various interest groups at home and overseas.
- With over 1.2 million Irish people on-line a particular focus of its Ireland marketing efforts will be on electronic marketing. As one part of this refocusing, Shannon Development will again work closely with Pigsback.com, who have over 200,000 members, to promote year-round holiday offers, on a special ‘Shannon Region’ Holiday Zone.
- Mindful than more flights are ‘two-way’ bridges that also provide more options for the Irish holidaymakers to holiday abroad, Shannon Development has already begun an extensive series of promotions on the Ireland market to grow home holidays, currently worth almost €125 million to the Shannon Region. Working with the Shannon Region tourism trade the company has already begun a major home holiday campaign attending Holiday World Travel Shows in Belfast, Dublin and Limerick which attracts an estimated 100,000 visitors, on the domestic side this will be followed with shopping centre promotions and attendance at major consumer and trade shows.
“Overall Shannon Development believes that, while 2006 will be a challenging year for the tourism industry generally, the new flights open up particular opportunities to significantly boost business to the Shannon Region and the West of Ireland. It is therefore important that all interests work together to ensure the success of these services so they are sustained and that additional services follow on, building a tourism growth momentum”, says Mr. King.
Planning for a 'roaring' 2006 tourism season at the launch of Shannon Development's marketing plans for the North Tipperary and Offaly tourism industry, were: from left: Pierce Duggan, Chairman North Tipperary Tourism Company; Attracta Lyons, North Tipperary Co. Council, Tomas O'Domhnaill, Regional Manager Shannon Development, and John King, Heritage & Tourism Director, Shannon Development.
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