Tourism Ireland’s Facebook draws more than 100,000 fans


18 Oct 2010

Tourism Ireland has passed a milestone figure on Facebook, receiving more than 100,000 fans.

Tourism Ireland has been capitalising on developments in social media in order to attract holidaymakers to the country.

Fans were seen to be in 12 key markets – Great Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia, the Netherlands, India, Japan and the Gulf Countries.

The largest fanbases were found in the US, with 36,000 members, and the UK, with 21,000.

Tourism Ireland on Facebook encourages fans to share their photos and experiences of Ireland. It allows other fans to comment with recommendations for great places to visit.

It also spreads good news about Ireland and highlights upcoming events and festivals.

Tourism Ireland also has Twitter accounts, which have more than 14,600 followers.

“Services like Facebook and Twitter are being used to share experiences and get ideas from friends and peers, on all kinds of subjects, including travel,” said Brian Harte, head of customer engagement for Tourism Ireland.

“The impact of online word-of-mouth cannot be underestimated, particularly when it comes to travel and holiday decisions.

“Tourism Ireland aims to be part of a lively conversation about Ireland, to engage with fans and get them talking about the many great things to see and do here. 

“This is part of our overall marketing strategy which increasingly uses social media to complement both our traditional and other e-marketing channels,” he said.