Tourism Ireland launched its first major global campaign since 2011. “Fill your heart with Ireland” was created using the heart rate data of two first-time visitors to Ireland, wearing heart monitors, which were linked to a head-mounted camera that captured all of their experiences. The data provided by these monitors determined what footage would be featured in the advertising. The result is a campaign that displays the emotional effect the island of Ireland has on visitors. Above is a clip on the making of this campaign.   

“This is the first major global campaign for Tourism Ireland in seven years,” said Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America. “We believe it is an innovative approach which will set the island of Ireland apart from our competitor destinations. ‘Fill Your Heart with Ireland’ has been designed to drive continued growth to the regions and to encourage visitors to travel in the shoulder season. It features locations that have been less visited by overseas visitors and highlights outdoor activities like cycling, walking and kayaking along with urban experiences that U.S. visitors enjoy. We are confident that the new campaign will help deliver another record year for tourism in 2019 from the United States.”

After eight years of consecutive tourism growth, Tourism Ireland is focusing the first phase of the campaign on locations that may be new to potential visitors, highlighting 16 less well-known locations and attractions, all of which affected the heart rates of the couple in the campaign. “The ad has researched extremely positively,” said Metcalfe. “Viewers can see it is clearly authentic and credible, and we’re confident that it will motivate them to want to travel to Ireland to experience this for themselves.”  The new campaign launched earlier this year in the U.S., on TV and across digital and social channels. Targeting Culturally Curious travelers, the campaign is currently running on major networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, in eight markets across the U.S. With new flights to Dublin from Minneapolis-St Paul (with Aer Lingus) and from Dallas (with American Airlines) due to launch this year, Tourism Ireland is targeting travelers in these cities for the first time.

The campaign was created by Publicis London and directed by Patrik Gyllström. It features the track “Home Again” by Dublin band Delorentos, which joined Tourism Ireland at its New York launch. Additional content will be filmed throughout 2019 and will include locations in Ireland’s Ancient East, Northern Ireland and Dublin to complement this initial campaign.

“2018 was the sixth and consecutive record year for visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from North America,” said Brendan Griffin, Ireland’s minister for tourism and sport. “In 2019, we welcomed around 2.06 million American and Canadian visitors, delivering revenue of €1.85 billion ($2.12 billion) for the economy. Tourism Ireland has an extensive and targeted marketing program planned for 2019 to increase awareness of the island of Ireland as a premier vacation destination and deliver sustainable tourism growth in 2019 and beyond.”

By Alan Fine