A €6 million campaign to market Ireland's regions to overseas visitors and encourage tourists to take motoring holidays in the Republic was announced yesterday by Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue.
Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland will use the funding to target potential visitors to Ireland from Britain, the US, France and Germany.
The marketing drive, which will create different themes for different regions, is part of a Government plan to improve the spatial spread of tourism across the State and promote longer holidays.
"The increasing international trend towards shorter, more frequent breaks favours easily accessible urban destinations and has clearly affected the balance of tourism growth across the regions," Mr O'Donoghue said.
Overseas visitors generated €3.8 billion in revenues for the Republic's economy last year, of which €2.5 billion was spent outside the Dublin area.
The new campaign will build on an initiative introduced last year to market the Republic on a regional basis, dividing it into Ireland West, Ireland South and Ireland East.
A new car touring campaign has been designed to attract motoring visitors, with ferry access links between the south-east and parts of Britain highlighted in the marketing plan.
"Research shows that visitors who travel by car or who hire one when they are here stay longer, spend more and tour the countryside more extensively," said Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole.
Themes such as music, food, literature and history will be used in the promotion.
