Tourism Ireland is rolling out a new ‘twinning’ initiative this year, which involves overseas markets ‘twinning with’ a specific region or area in Ireland.
Great Britain is ‘twinning’ with Donegal and Derry, so Tourism Ireland in Great Britain is placing a special focus on the North-West in 2022.
The initiative was unveiled at the June board meeting of Tourism Ireland in Harvey’s Point Hotel on Thursday.
Niall Coffey, Harvey’s Point Hotel; Sinéad McGowan, Lough Eske Castle; Siobhan McManamy, Acting Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland; and Stephen McNally, Tourism Ireland board member, before the Tourism Ireland board meeting in Donegal.
Pic – Clive Wasson
The board members took the opportunity to meet with representatives of the local tourism industry, to discuss activity to restart overseas tourism to Ireland this year and the extensive promotional programme which Tourism Ireland is undertaking to highlight Donegal, the Wild Atlantic Way and the island of Ireland around the world in 2022.
Siobhan McManamy, Acting Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “We were delighted to be in Donegal for this month’s board meeting and to have the chance to meet with representatives of the local tourism industry and to hear directly about their business. It also gave us the opportunity to discuss the restart of overseas tourism to this year and the extensive programme of activity which Tourism Ireland is undertaking around the world, to promote Donegal, the Wild Atlantic Way and the island of Ireland to prospective visitors.”
Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland; Katy Best, Tourism Ireland board member; Christopher Brooke, Chairman of Tourism Ireland; Sinéad McGowan, Lough Eske Castle; and Helena Healy, B&B Ireland, before the Tourism Ireland board meeting in Donegal.
Pic – Clive Wasson
Donegal features prominently on Tourism Ireland’s international website Ireland.com, which attracted more than 23 million unique views in 2019. Donegal’s landscape and attractions are also highlighted through Tourism Ireland’s social media platforms, including Facebook (Tourism Ireland has around 4.7 million fans worldwide), Instagram (over 1 million followers), Twitter (over 547,000 followers) and YouTube.
Christopher Brooke, Chairman of Tourism Ireland; Moira Doherty, Ardara Distillery; and Joe Dolan, Tourism Ireland board member, before the Tourism Ireland board meeting in Donegal.
Pic – Clive Wasson