John Brassil, Chairman of Shannon Development, is leading a tourism drive in the US this week whose aim is to highlight Limerick as a tourist destination at the 22nd annual US Milwaukee Irish Fest which runs from 14th to 17th August ‘08.
“Shannon Development’s main focus at this prestigious festival will be to promote Limerick, the Shannon Region, and access through Shannon International Airport. We have designed a dedicated tourism stand for the occasion. With over 100,000 visitors this major showcase event provides a fantastic selling opportunity for us and our job is to woo US people who attend the Festival to come to Limerick. To do this we will be selling the Limerick’s wonderful variety of tourism products and attractions, our unique blend of music, traditional and contemporary, the rich heritage, the endless array of activities, the ease of access through Shannon International Airport, and the warmth of the Limerick people”, says John Brassil, Chairman, Shannon Development.
The Festival is the world’s largest annually Irish cultural event. Many of those attending have Irish roots and are intent on visiting Ireland. The Festival was established in 1986 as an event to celebrate and promote Irish heritage. It has evolved over the years and now the four-day festival promotes Irish culture through music, dance, cultural exhibits, drama, sports and history.
“This is a major event in the US calendar and is attended by top US Tour Operators who bring US tourists to Ireland. It has great potential to yield additional tourism business and increase the profile and visitor spend in Limerick. It is just one of a number of initiatives that Shannon Development is undertaking in the US market this year. We recently signed agreements with a number of airlines and tourism operators to drive additional bed nights to the Shannon Region. One of these campaigns has already resulted in 20,000 additional bednights from the US this year,” said Mr. Brassil.
To make this happen, Shannon Development has negotiated partnership working arrangements with 15 Travel Operators in the US including 13 of the leading Tour Operators selling dedicated Ireland holiday programmes in the US market. Included among these are niche operators of golf holidays. The company’s marketing and promotional activity is targeted at US cities that have flights to Shannon Airport and key feeder hubs. As part of this initiative Shannon Development is working on packages with two airlines who service the US market – Aer Lingus and US Airways. The company has also promoted the region at a range of consumer holidays fairs in the US including the Boston Globe Holiday Show, and travel shows in Philadelphia, Washington and Toronto.
In addition to this Shannon Development’s tourism marketing team has recently undertaken sales calls to upscale travel agents in Toronto and Chicago. Shannon Development is fully exploiting digital communications with a series of e-blasts in the US, through top US tour operators, to entice holidaymakers to holiday in the Shannon Region.
Using the latest technology Shannon Development, in conjunction with Brendan World Wide Vacations Tourism in the US, recently undertook a briefing with over 500 travel agent staff by webcam. During the live online seminar, Shannon Development made a presentation on what there is to see and do in the Shannon Region and responded to an extensive range of follow-up enquiries from the travel agents.
“Shannon Development is also working with Tourism Ireland, in association and other tourism authorities along Ireland’s West Coast, on the ‘Discover Ireland’s Wonderful West’ campaign, a €3 million marketing campaign in the US designed to boost business to the Shannon Airport catchment area post-Open Skies. Among the initiatives already underway as part of this campaign are; US print, radio and online advertising with carriers, tour operators and industry partners, direct marketing on and offline and special promotions.
As a result of all of these initiatives a variety of US visitors from group tours to individual holidaymakers will visit Limerick, and avail of the wonderful and varied accommodation base, use local car hire services, visit local attractions and take part in a range of local activities,” Mr. Brassil concluded.
Nandi O’Sullivan
Public Relations Manager
Tel: +353 61 710259
Mobile: +353 86-2371510
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