Select Hotels of Ireland Flying the Flag for the Irish Tourism Industry in the UK

21 March 2011

One of the results of the recent economic meltdown in Ireland is that the country has to re-evaluate the importance of the Tourism Industry and the role the industry can play in turning around the fortune of the Irish economy.  Over the past 10 years, the industry took a back seat to the banking and construction industries and now it is being heralded, together with the food industry as a possible saviour for the Irish economy.  While more investment into Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland would be appreciated by everyone in the Industry, Select Hotels of Ireland, Ireland's biggest hotel group, has decided to organise a two week "road trip" on Ireland's most viable market and closest neighbour - the UK.

Together with sister company, Cronin Coaches and Stena Line, Select Hotels will be piggybacking on Irish themed activities and events in the run up to and during the St Patrick's Day celebrations in the UK to launch a fierce campaign reminding this viable market of the wealth of experiences, quality and value to be had from a holiday in the "Emerald Isle".

Derry Cronin CEO of Select Hotels of Ireland and Director of Cronin's Coaches states "Select Hotels of Ireland  are going out to the market place, supporting Tourism Ireland's message that Ireland is very much open for business and that there has never been a better time to come to Ireland.""The Tourism Industry is going to be vital to the survival of the Irish economy.  It supports 180,000 jobs; generates €5 billion in revenue per annum from 15,000 businesses, in addition to the multiples of this revenue that it brings to other Irish businesses that benefit from the influx of visitors and their vital spend."Welcoming Select Hotel's "road trip" initiative Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland said "Returning the GB market to growth is our priority for 2011 and Tourism Ireland has increased its marketing investment there this year by +30%.  Our promotional campaignis well underway and it is great to have the Select Hotels 'road trip' supporting us on the ground and helping to spread the message that there's never been a better time to visit Ireland with great value offers and terrific things to do and see."Heading up the Campaign is Una Young, Select Hotels of Ireland's General Manager.  She stated "Through Tourism Ireland research we know that 68% of people in the UK have expressed an interest in visiting Ireland, yet air routes to Ireland from the UK have been cut by 10% this year, which of course means we are going to have less options for UK visitors at a time when increased numbers of visitors to Ireland is vital.""To combat this we have decided to go directly to the market in the UK.  We will have two distinct target groups; individuals and group travel Business.  For example, for groups we will have fully inclusive offers that include Coach, Ferry, bespoke tours and accommodation in some of the finest independently owned hotels in the country.  No one out there is offering such customised group travel options and we feel it could be a great win for the tourism industry and for the Irish economy as a whole.  The campaign is a major investment for us as a group and for the 25 hotels that we represent, each of whom will have a representative on the UK trip."The "road trip" in the UK market will be made on a number of fronts - first of all Select Hotels will have a very strong presence at some of the major Travel Trade Shows in the main UK cities.  The mode of transport will be a heavily branded "Come to Ireland" state of the art coach, which will also participate in the Manchester St Patrick's Day Parade and the Cheltenham Racing Festival, distributing hundreds of thousands of "Come to Ireland" flyers with £100 vouchers off short stays at any of the 25 Select Hotels located throughout Ireland.This is not the first venture into the UK for Select Hotels of Ireland.  Una stated "For the past four years we have had a very strong relationship with Tesco in the UK.  We are the only Irish hotel group listed on their UK Tesco Club Card Points Redemption Scheme.  This Club has over 14 million members in the UK and its website receives over 500,000 hits per week.   All of these members are regularly receiving messages about holidaying in Ireland from us, which is great for Select Hotels and is immense exposure for the Irish Tourism Industry."For further information on Select Hotels of Ireland, visit www.selecthotels.ie  or follow the brand on facebook.