Tourism Ireland Targets US Market
Tourism Ireland in the United States launched its marketing plans for 2025 at an event in New York attended by leading US tour operators, airlines and journalists from the Tri-State area.
The US is the island of Ireland’s second-largest source of overseas tourism revenue, accounting for 27% of total visitor spend.
Tourism Ireland plans to invest in an extensive and targeted programme of activity in the United States throughout 2025. Sustainable development is at the core of its plans for the year ahead, so there will be continued focus on attracting tourists who have “value adding tourism traits” – people who are likely to see more, do more, enjoy more and therefore spend more when they visit.
New for 2025 is “Slow Tourism Month” in June. Tourism Ireland will enable more exploration, with trip ideas that allow for dwell time in communities and scenery and that can be enjoyed by rail, bus or with tour partners, winning overnight stays across regions.
Tourism Ireland’s “Fill your heart with Ireland” campaign will deliver an estimated 289 million opportunities to see in the US in 2025. The campaign is running on multiple channels, including on TV in key gateway cities, Connected TV (including Amazon and Disney+), as well as on social and digital.
Sporting moments present key opportunities. 2025 is an important year for golf, as Northern Ireland hosts The Open at Royal Portrush in July and Ireland prepares for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in 2027. Partnerships with leading US golf media will be rolled out to leverage the tourism potential of these prestigious sporting events. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic will take place once again in Dublin in August – this time between Kansas State and Iowa State – delivering an estimated €100 million to the economy. And just last week it was announced that Ireland is also set to host a regular season NFL fixture for the first time in autumn 2025.
Speaking at the launch in New York, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said:
“Looking to the year ahead, we have an ambitious marketing programme to support a healthy tourism industry through the regional and season spread of visitors. This year, there are direct flights from 22 different US gateways, including new services from Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville, which will certainly help drive growth.”
Pictured are Katy Best, Belfast City Airport and Tourism Ireland board member; Bill Byrne, Aer Lingus; Michael Londra, Irish tenor and host of TV show Ireland with Michael ; and Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland.
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