YouTube, dotMobi and the iPod will be key weapons in Dublin Tourism’s bid to attract an additional one million leisure and business travellers to Dublin by 2010.
The organisation’s new tourism plan for the Dublin region has seen the www.visitdublin.com website revamped and updated to incorporate the ‘Truly Madly Deeply Dublin’ consumer branding imagery and tone. The site, which attracted five million unique visitors last year, is WAP and i-mode handset enabled.
Two videos promoting Dublin will be available on YouTube from today: a six-minute Dublin video with a U2 soundtrack and a one-minute movie clip on the city.
Dublin Tourism is also working with dotMobi in providing content and marketing support for a soon-to-be-launched Dublin.mobi site. The body said that Dublin.mobi has been selected as the flagship portal to showcase to other cities as the template and model for future mobile city sites.
Dublin Tourism also announced iWalks, a series of podcasts available on the www.visitdublin.com site that can be downloaded onto iPods or other MP3 players for free, as part of its ‘Making it happen’ marketing strategy.
Other specific e-marketing activities will include: a monthly e-zine entitled ‘News from Dublin’ that will be sent to a list of 60,000 subscribers along with accommodation and Dublin Pass offers; communications to previous accommodation purchasers on visitdublin.com outlining specific limited offers; click-through to product providers’ and event websites; and online advertising campaigns with partners across a range of travel and lifestyle sites such as Travelocity and Expedia.
Accommodation, the Dublin Pass, transport tickets and event tickets will all be available on the visitdublin.com website.
As well as announcing the three-year ‘Making it happen’ strategy for the Dublin region, Dublin Tourism announced the appointment of a new board chaired by Ann Riordan, the former country manager of Microsoft Ireland.
“Dublin Tourism’s e-marketing strategy will be an important element in successfully implementing our new tourism development plan. It will help ensure that Dublin is marketed and developed online as a top-class tourism destination within key markets,” says Frank Magee, chief executive of Dublin Tourism.
“We have earned an enviable reputation for successfully identifying and exploiting emerging technology solutions and platforms in targeting consumers. The range of e-marketing initiatives and campaigns we will roll out are important in helping us achieve our target of attracting one million additional overseas visitors.”
By Niall Byrne
