Cork 2005 to act as ‘carrot’ to attract new wave of tourists

CORK’S designation as Europe’s cultural capital will be vital in attracting tourists to Ireland this year, an industry meeting was told yesterday.

The Cork/Kerry region has been matched with Italy and Germany as part of a marketing initiative to boost tourism in 2005.

Maura Moynihan, chief executive of Cork Kerry Tourism, said Cork 2005 will act as a “new carrot” to attract visitors.

She was speaking at a Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland briefing to tourism operators in Cork and Killarney yesterday.

“Cork 2005 offers the city, county and indeed the entire region, a great opportunity to be seen worldwide,” Ms Moynihan said.

“The publicity cannot be bought and Cork/Kerry Tourism will continue to work closely with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to ensure the greatest amount of media coverage at home and overseas.”

She also defended the marketing of Cork 2005 abroad.

“We have been marketing the designation abroad for the last 18 months. We attended 46 trade shows in 14 countries and took all the Cork 2005 literature with us,” she said.

People will start to see the benefits of this in terms of tourist numbers, within a few months, she said.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O’Toole said: “The European Capital of Culture presents Cork and Ireland with a unique and important opportunity to showcase our extraordinary cultural vitality to the world.

“Cork City of Culture will feature prominently in Tourism Ireland marketing and advertising campaigns in key overseas markets in 2005,” he said.

Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said he expected 2005 to be a good year for Irish tourism.

Overseas visitor numbers are expected to grow by 5%, up on the 6.4 million visitors in 2004, bringing in about €4.4 billion.

He also expects the number of home holidays to rise to around 3.15 million, with associated revenues of €1.3bn.

But he said Fáilte Ireland will focus on the development of a new strategy for regional and rural tourism.

“In general, the rural West, North West and Midlands have not experienced the same level of growth as elsewhere, and some sectors like B&Bs have also been affected by shifting consumer trends,” he said.

A TV ad campaign promoting special interest breaks like angling, equestrian, golf and walking, is also planned.