Australia offers significant potential for Irish tourism, according to a new Tourism Ireland strategy launched today – which was attended by tourism companies from around Ireland, including Ashford Castle.
The new, three-year, strategy for growth sets out challenging and ambitious targets which will see the number of Australian visitors to the island of Ireland grow by 20 per cent to almost 220,000 per year by the end of 2017.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Australia has performed well for tourism to the island of Ireland in recent years and the future is undoubtedly bright. We believe this is a market of considerable potential for Ireland over the coming years – given that these high-spending visitors travel right throughout the year and enjoy exploring the regions of Ireland. However, we can’t take this performance for granted; we need to adapt and respond to new opportunities to ensure that success continues. Building on the strong performance of recent years, and the increased number of one-stop flights via the Middle East, we have set challenging targets for the 2015-2017 period. I am confident that this new, focused, strategy will deliver on the targets we have set for growth in Australian visitors, between now and 2017.”
The new Tourism Ireland strategy has been developed in close co-operation with a wide range of industry partners, at home and in Australia. It has identified the opportunities which will drive accelerated growth from Australia to the island of Ireland over the coming three years.
