Tourism Ireland promotes the Causeway Coastal Route and Northern Ireland with Lastminute.com in Italy

Tourism Ireland in Italy has teamed up with Lastminute.com, in a new campaign to grow tourism from Italy. The campaign included highly visible ads at around 30 city bike stations in Milan – which featured the tagline ‘L’Irlanda è più vicina di quanto pensi’ (meaning ‘Ireland is closer than you think’).

The aim of the campaign was to grab the attention of cyclists in Milan and encourage them to come and discover our spectacular cycling routes on the Causeway Coastal Route and in Co Down, as well as along the Wild Atlantic Way. It delivered over 380,000 impressions (opportunities to see), via the ads at the city bike stations.

The campaign also includes a specially created page on the Lastminute.com website in Italy, which is highlighting sustainable tourism activities in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland; click here to view. Italian holidaymakers are being encouraged to book a trip to the island of Ireland with a special code to receive a €50 voucher, which can then be used to book a flight and hotel package, worth €500 or more, on Lastminute.com.

Marcella Ercolini, Tourism Ireland’s Manager for Italy, said: “We’re delighted to team up with Lastminute.com to highlight cycling holidays and sustainable tourism activities in Northern Ireland to potential Italian holidaymakers. It’s a fun way of shining a spotlight on ‘Irlanda’ in Italy and the voucher aspect of the campaign is a great way to incentivise Italian holidaymakers to go ahead and book their trip now!

“Co-operative campaigns with key partners, like this one with Lastminute.com, are an important element of our promotional activity. Italy is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. In 2019, we welcomed 370,000 visitors from Italy, whose visits delivered £160 million for the economy.”