Tourism agency Fáilte Ireland, together with Tourism Ireland, are this week showcasing a select number of top attractions in counties Tipperary, Waterford and Cork to a group of overseas media, who are in Ireland on a Discover Munster press trip to see what the area has to offer overseas visitors.
The group include representatives from Globetrotter TV, New York, online media in France and Spain, journalists who write for the national newspapers in Belgium, Italy, Austria and India, who together have a combined audience and readership of eight million.
Alex Connolly, Head of Corporate Communications & International Publicity with Fáilte Ireland welcomed the group to Ireland. “Bringing international media to Ireland and showing them what is on offer plays an integral role in ensuring that we get our message out there – Ireland is a must-see place to visit. These trips are a wonderful opportunity for overseas media to come and experience at first hand counties Tipperary, Waterford and Cork, and are pivotal to placing our great tourism assets in front of a large audience.”
Fáilte Ireland put together a bespoke itinerary for the media, which included experiencing some of Munster’s iconic tourism attractions – the Holycross Abbey, Ormond Castle, FHC Experience, McCarthy’s Bar Fethard and Coolmore Stud in Tipperary. While in Waterford the group cycled the Waterford Greenway followed by a visit to Lismore Castle Gardens, before finishing their journey in Cork with a visit to Doneraile Wildlife Park and Longueville House, a member of Ireland’s Blue Book.
Commenting on his experience in Ireland, Jon Haggins, producer and host of Globetrotter TV, a weekly half-hour travel show that airs to two million New York homes, said: “I’ve been to Ireland before, but not to the Munster region and I was curious to discover more on this lesser known region for our viewers. One of the highlights was lunch in the famous McCarthy’s bar in Fethard, Tipperary. Not only is it a bar but it’s also the local undertaker’s or funeral directors. The owner, Jasper even showed me his hearse, this was certainly a new experience for me! While in Coolmine Stud we got to touch the most expensive horse in the world – Galileo.”
Last year was a bumper year for international media coming to Ireland from 20 overseas markets. Over 1,400 representatives from print, broadcast and online channels across the world descended on our shores during the year providing Irish tourism with an overall reach to over 9.2 billion worldwide. The equivalent advertising value of this reach is estimated at over €104 million. Fáilte Ireland, together with Tourism Ireland, co-ordinated over 400 different itineraries resulting in the media representatives meeting with over 4,000 Irish businesses across the country.