Tourism Marketing and Developments in a sustainable fashion 2007

Kilkenny Tourism Board of Directors and its members focused on marketing implementation in a sustainable manner in 2007. The hotels and accommodation sector, the restaurant and food producers sector and the Craft and Events sector were particularly active. The Hotels sector collectively worked at promoting Kilkenny as a quality destination to both the leisure and corporate market. Kilkenny Tourism Development strategy, 2006 - 2011 "Linking Old and New, City and County", lays down the guidelines and targets for each year over a five year plan. The hotels in 2007 focused on Web development, ongoing domestic awareness campaigns (via National Radio, TV, Print and Trade Fairs) and Public Relations attached to every event that was associated with Kilkenny Tourism.

One such event included the first 'Kilkenny Food Fest 2007'. Kilkenny is already home to an international comedy festival, a premier arts festival and a rhythm & roots music festival. 2007 saw plans afoot for people to truly savour Kilkenny with the introduction of the city's first food & wine festival. Following the success of initiatives such as 'Taste of Dublin' and 'The Kinsale Gourmet Food Festival', the idea of a food festival in Kilkenny was mooted in Kilkenny hospitality circles for some time. A feasibility study undertaken on behalf of Kilkenny Tourism in late 2006 showed that such an initiative could work in the city. In 2007, a festival committee was established to plan a series of festival events to take place over the October Bank Holiday Weekend and it was a huge success.

Some of the initiatives included chef demonstrations, a county-wide food producers trail and an international food market in the city which offered the opportunity to food and craft producers to display their wares to the weekend visitors.

 

Executed Marketing Actions 2007 included:

1. Website Advertising

• Sign up to Pay per Click advertising - pilot project 2007.
• Create a web based advertising campaign to generate hits to Kilkenny.ie.
• Create a booking engine on Kilkenny.ie.

 

1b. E Marketing

• 2 new ezines - 1. to target tour operators with new products in Kilkenny and suggested itineraries and tours of Kilkenny and 2.target consumers with packages and special offers.
• Collect databases for ezines via competitions at consumer promotions.
• Encourage all sectors to submit special offers, package deals and other information to Kilkenny Tourism website and ezines.

 

2. Sector Marketing - Hotels Marketing Group

To assist with the implementation of the Hotels Marketing Plan:

• Awareness of kilkenny.ie brand by the Hotels Group.
• Attract familiarisation trips to the county in association with Failte Ireland South East Region.
• continue to distribute ezines to promote Kilkenny Hotels. Direct all traffic to Kilkenny.ie/hotels.
• Continue for the 4th year to conduct Kilkenny IMC Media Campaigns (National Radio, TV and Print).
• Attract new events to Kilkenny and bid for large conferences.

 

3. Kilkenny Tourism Awareness Programme

• Develop an internal PR programme to raise the awareness of what Kilkenny Tourism is actually delivering. This needs to feature locally to profile the level of work being produced by Kilkenny Tourism on behalf of the members it represents.
• Participate on local radio programmes.
• Contribute to Kilkenny People and Kilkenny Voice via press releases.
• Update of "whats happening in Marketing" on ezine/newsletter.

 

4. Familiarisation Trips

• Develop joint working relationships with Failte Ireland in attracting key familiarisation trips to County Kilkenny.
• Develop working relationships with UK Tourism Ireland market to attract familiarisation trips to Kilkenny.
• Host either a familiarisation trip to a high quality, successful accommodation facility or an evening talk followed by networking to encourage accommodation providers to upgrade their product.
• Work with Kilkenny Hotels Group and with the ITOA to conduct a workshop and familiarisation trip where members can meet with tour operators. On day two, there will be a tour of the County's new and existing products which have been upgraded.

 

5. Promotions

• Target domestic and overseas consumers with consumer promotions.
• Attend a UK workshop as part of the Kilkenny Hotels group.
• Target conference market in Dublin and UK.

 

6. Tourist Information and Distribution

• Design and print a new comprehensive 'all in one' Kilkenny County Brochure which will provide an improved presence for Kilkenny Tourism members.
• Continue to distribute information packs, mailshots etc.
• Develop new distribution channels for brochures.

 

7. Funding / Membership / Fundraising

• Secure new membership from new sectors.
• Ensure that Kilkenny Tourism's current membership base is maintained. Continue to communicate with existing members. Each sector representative must request their members to contribute towards marketing plans.
• Apply for funding to Kilkenny County Council in 2008 estimates prepared in November 2007.
• Host the Golf Classic as a major fundraising event for the company.

 

8. Communication

• Communicate effectively within Kilkenny County Council about Kilkenny Tourism and its objectives.
• Raise awareness of Kilkenny Tourism and its sectors via media internally and externally.
• Design and print an end of year newsletter to communicate the activities of Kilkenny Tourism to members and councillors.
• Communicate effectively to members and potential members via positive news items in local newspapers.
• Develop new members section on the new www.Kilkennytourism.ie with interesting news items for members. This will be an important asset for members to keep up to date with what's happening in tourism in Kilkenny and beyond.

 

9. Build upon relationships with key agencies in Kilkenny

• Kilkenny Local Authorities: Work with Planning in relation to signage and product development areas for tourism in Kilkenny.
• Kilkenny Leader/BNS: Work with BNS Leader on Kilkenny branding, attracting new business to Kilkenny in an innovative way.
• Failte Ireland: Work with Failte Ireland.
• Chambers of Commerce: Work jointly with Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce in PR and National advertising campaigns for Kilkenny.