Tourism Ireland launches Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign
Tourism Ireland has announced details of its new promotional campaign to leverage the tourism benefits of the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup. The announcement was made as the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 Trophy Tour arrived in the Tourism Ireland office in Dublin.
Tourism Ireland is urging rugby fans and potential visitors everywhere to come for the games and then stay for the craic – reminding them that, in Ireland, we love our rugby and we’re prepared to be the perfect host for this year’s tournament in Dublin and Belfast. Pool stages kick off on 9 August in Dublin (in UCD) and the finals will be played in Belfast (Queen’s and Kingspan Stadium) on 22-26 August.
Tourism Ireland will take every opportunity to leverage the tourism benefits of the Women’s Rugby World Cup over the coming weeks – spreading the word through its promotions around the world in key rugby-loving countries, including Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Japan, Canada and the United States. Campaign activity will include:
A new video, highlighting the welcoming nature of the island of Ireland and its people; click here to view (as well as an English version, the video is also available in Japanese, French, Italian and Spanish);
A specially created page on Tourism Ireland’s international website, Ireland.com, which attracted about 19.37 million visitors last year;
Extensive social media activity, including posts on Facebook (Tourism Ireland has almost 4 million fans worldwide) and on Twitter (over 403,000 followers); and
A major PR and publicity push to Tourism Ireland’s 20,000 international media contacts.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Rugby has emerged as one of Ireland’s most successful sports and we are really pleased that the Women’s Rugby World Cup is taking place here next month. Tourism Ireland’s latest campaign is designed to encourage rugby fans around the world to visit the island of Ireland this summer. We’re inviting them to come and join in the electric atmosphere of Dublin and Belfast’s great sporting arenas and explore these beautiful cities as they enjoy the games. Our message is that the island of Ireland is a fantastic place to visit – where they’re guaranteed a wonderful experience and the warmest of welcomes.”
In France, Tourism Ireland will partner with Midi Olympique – a bi-weekly rugby newspaper with about 100,000 readers – and its website, Rugbyrama.fr. An eight-page article about the island of Ireland will run in the 9 August edition, to coincide with the start of the tournament. Tourism Ireland will also support send-off events for the various women’s teams in France, Italy and Spain, before they depart for Dublin.
In Canada, Tourism Ireland will be an official promotional partner at Rugby Canada’s special send-off reception for the women’s team. The organisation is also running a competition to highlight the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Dublin and Ireland, with the chance to win a trip for two to Ireland, which will include tickets to one of Women’s World Cup matches.
