Tourism Ireland Launch Star Wars-Focused Tourism Campaign

The release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens presents Tourism Ireland with a "truly unique opportunity" to highlight the South West and Ireland in 2016.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, welcomed Tourism Ireland's launch of the first phase of a special Star Wars campaign, targeting fans of the science fiction franchise everywhere.

Tourism Ireland plans to take every opportunity to maximise the Star Wars connection with Ireland over the coming weeks and months. Its campaign will be rolled out in 14 different markets – including Britain, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordic region, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and the GCC.

Activity will include:

• A specially created page on Tourism Ireland's international website, Ireland.com, which has attracted about 16.5 million visitors this year;

• extensive social activity, with posts on Facebook (Tourism Ireland has 3.33 million fans worldwide) and Twitter (317,000+ followers); and

• a major PR and publicity push to Tourism Ireland's 20,000+ international media contacts.

Minister Donohoe said: "I would like to wish Tourism Ireland every success with this marketing initiative. The new Star Wars film is widely expected to be one of the most viewed films in history. Having Ireland's magnificent scenery featuring in the film provides a tremendous boost for us and I know that Tourism Ireland will fully maximise the opportunities the film presents. 2015 has been a wonderful year for Irish tourism and initiatives like this can ensure that the positive momentum is maintained into 2016 and beyond'.

TV and film are recognised as strong influencers on travellers everywhere, with up to 35% of people being impacted in their choice of destination by what they see on screen."

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, added: "A hugely popular name like Star Wars filming here will bring the magnificent scenery of Skellig Michael and the Wild Atlantic Way to the attention of millions of people around the world. It's a really effective way to reach mass audiences, helping to significantly boost awareness of the Skelligs, the south west and Ireland in general, providing a global platform for Ireland as a holiday destination and whetting people's appetites to come and visit."

(MH/LM)