Athlone is a focal feature of a major television campaign highlighting the town's attractions as part of the 'Ireland's Hidden Heartlands' promotional campaign. The ad uses a visual style to draw the viewer in and place themselves in the activities and landscape of the area, centred around the idea of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands being ‘Yours to Uncover’.
With a 75 percent audience reach planned over the coming weeks, the ad will premiered on TV3 and will also appear in the breaks for high rating programmes such as The Sunday Game, Coronation Street, Fair City and RTÉ News.
In another major milestone for Fáilte Ireland’s newest regional experience brand, the national tourism development authority has announced the appointment of Paddy Mathews as its new Head of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.
Welcoming the appointment, Mr. Paul Keeley, Director of Commercial Development at Fáilte Ireland, enthused, "as we launch the first major TV ad for Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, I’m also delighted to announce that, following a highly competitive recruitment process, Paddy Mathews will head up the Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands team – another big milestone for the brand. This role will be vital to the new regional experience brand as we work to embed and develop it over the coming years – and with his wealth of experience in the tourism industry, Paddy is incredibly well placed to do this.
Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is the newest regional experience brand for Ireland and was unveiled in April. The brand aims to shine a spotlight on the Midland’s rich natural and cultural assets, including its many lakes, walks and blueways, and the myriad of ways that visitors can enjoy them.
Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands covers the ‘heart’ of the country with Athlone being a central hub, from Leitrim down to East Clare and extending through Longford, Roscommon, East Galway, as well as parts of Westmeath, Cavan, North Tipperary and Offaly. It complements Fáilte Ireland’s other key brands - the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East and Dublin.
