The Ardilaun Hotel in Galway was the venue for the April board meeting of Tourism Ireland, which took place today (Thursday, 27 February). The board members took the opportunity to meet with representatives of the local tourism industry, to discuss overseas tourism to the island of Ireland this year and the extensive promotional programme which Tourism Ireland is undertaking to highlight Galway and Ireland around the world in 2023.
Speaking after the board meeting, Siobhan McManamy, Interim Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “We were delighted to be in Galway 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 overseas tourism in 2023 and the extensive programme of promotional activity which Tourism Ireland is undertaking around the world, to highlight Galway and Ireland to prospective visitors.”
Galway city and county feature prominently on Tourism Ireland’s international website, Ireland.com, which attracted more than 12.2 million unique views in 2022. Galway’s scenery, festivals and attractions are also highlighted on Tourism Ireland’s social media platforms, including Facebook (Tourism Ireland has around 4.7 million fans worldwide), Instagram (over 1.1 million followers), Twitter (around 561,000 followers) and YouTube.
In 2022, Tourism Ireland generated positive publicity in international media outlets for Galway worth €98.8 million (in equivalent advertising value), reaching almost 262 million people – through its programme of media visits, press releases, ezines and in-market media events.
Tourism Ireland is rolling out its ‘twinning’ initiative again this year, which involves each overseas market ‘twinning with’ a specific region or area in Ireland. France is twinned with Galway, so Tourism Ireland in France is placing a special focus on Galway in 2023.
