Tourism sector urged to embrace the net

19-02-2008

by Stephen Errity

Regional disparities in Irish tourism can be overcome by exploiting the online channel, according to Gulliver Ireland.

Dr. Stewart Stephens, MD of Gulliver Ireland, made the comments on Tuesday as the travel portal released its annual tourism market review. The report revealed that online bookings for 2007 jumped 9 percent on 2006 figures.

In total, 770,000 'bednights' were booked through Gulliver's GoIreland.com website in 2007. These bookings were valued at EUR31.1 million. All sectors of accommodation showed growth, with the B&B sector recording another year-on-year improvement.

Dublin continues to be the most popular destination for visitors to Ireland who book their holidays online, with a 32 percent share of total bookings. After Dublin came the West and the South West, with market shares of 18 and 17 percent respectively. The biggest improvements in online bookings since 2006 were registered by the North West (a 22 percent increase) and the Midlands East (a 12 percent increase).

Thirty-six percent of bookings made through Gulliver were by Irish people holidaying at home, with 24 percent coming from the UK and 14 percent from the US. Altogether, these three sources accounted for almost three-quarters of all online bookings made.

While reservations increased across the board, the rate of bookings for destinations outside Dublin grew faster than that for Dublin for the third consecutive year. Gulliver believes this is the result of effective online marketing by hotels, guesthouses and tourism offices in the regions outside Dublin and has proposed a practical seven-step strategy for other regions that continue to fall behind.

With a growing number of people now booking their holidays online, and many only consulting online sources, the internet has become vitally important to the tourism sector and businesses or regions without a web presence could end up missing out. Bearing that in mind Gulliver is advising regional tourism offices to develop a better understanding about online marketing through Failte Ireland workshops and courses.

The travel portal is also advising tourism centre to work with local businesses to build a complete picture of a region's amenities, to sell the tourism 'experience' and not just a single product, to use the competitive advantage afforded by unique attractions, to identify their customers and learn how to sell to them and to identify their role in promoting sustainable and green tourism.