Ireland's Iconic Movies Boost Tourism

A novel promotion targeting film lovers has kicked off, in a bid to encourage more people to visit the island of Ireland for their holiday this year.

Some of Ireland's classic films, including Ondine with Colin Farrell, and Ryan's Daughter, the great David Lean film, are expected to help entice British film fans to visit the locations.

Tourism Ireland has teamed up with the popular DVD subscription company, Lovefilm, for a promotion with a difference - celebrating Irish film - through its 1.2 million subscriber listing and the 4.5 million online visitors to the Lovefilm website each month.

This promotion is a great way for Tourism Ireland to reach a huge audience of potential holidaymakers, a spokesman said, noting that a special microsite will allow people to explore the top 20 Irish films, browse some interesting Irish film facts and trivia and enter a competition to win a trip to Ireland's famous film locations.

The promotion, which runs until mid-June, includes online banner ads and also highlights the great value available from the tourism industry here with offers, mailshots and newsletters.

Tourism Ireland is also spreading the word through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Lawrence Bate, Tourism Ireland's Head of Great Britain, said: "Following the success of other novel campaigns, for example our Jedward ads, this is a different way to bring the island of Ireland to the attention of potential British visitors.

"The promotion will target millions of British film fans and will involve some of our most famous movies which also highlight the wealth of our culture and artistic heritage and showcase our spectacular scenery and landscapes," he said.

This initiative is part of Tourism Ireland's action plan to restore the all-important British market to growth, highlighting the distinctiveness of the island of Ireland and emphasising what makes a holiday here different for GB visitors from a domestic break in England, Scotland or Wales.

See: www.lovefilm.com/ireland

(BMcC/GK)