2021- what a year. Filled with lots of frustrations, cancellations, busy times, staff shortages, restrictions, and everything in between. I’m sure there have been many marketing plans written, then rewritten. Many sales forecasts thrown in the bin and hair pulled out. But we got through it. The government put good supports in place and dare I say it we are heading into 2022 a lot...
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HubSpot shared its most important statistics in email marketing recently. There are more than 4 billion daily users worldwide, 78% of email marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months and 74% of baby boomers (people aged 55+) think email is the most personal channel to communicate with brands. But how important is email marketing in Tourism and Hospitality in...
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It’s been in the news A LOT recently. The hospitality and tourism industry are suffering from a massive shortage in staff. Many reasons are being blamed for this shortage. An unreliable industry, staff retraining elsewhere, the PUP payment and much more. Our industry needs to act now in retaining and recruiting staff if we are to return to normal service. Any service business will know...
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Marketing for reopening It’s the news that we have all been waiting for. Hospitality and Tourism businesses are set to reopen from the 02nd of June in Ireland. After a long stressful 5 months thwarted by restrictions, businesses are hoping that this time they can open- and stay open. However, international visitors will not be back in Ireland for a while so hospitality and tourism businesses...
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Restrictions have started to ease as of today, 26th April 2021. Outdoor visitor attractions and outdoor sporting activities can recommence with some conditions. We are expecting an announcement from government on Thursday as to when the rest of hospitality and tourism businesses can reopen. The presumption from many within industry is outdoor dining will open first. So what’s the best way to market your outdoor...
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Promoting your sustainability efforts as a tourism and hospitality business may not be up there on a list of priorities prior to reopening. However, it is still something that your customers and guests care about. Probably even more so than before the Covid 19 pandemic. The vast majority of Tourism and hospitality business have already put sustainable practices and processes into effect- but they are...
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The wedding industry in Ireland was estimated to be worth €3.2 billion pre Covid. With on-going restrictions and so much uncertainty in regards to future planning, this figure will have dropped significantly. But weddings are still going ahead and are still a vital part of any hospitality industry- however small they may be. Smaller weddings are on the rise. The recent Weddings online survey stated...
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Last February, Failte Ireland held their “Survive to thrive webinar” (read our key take aways here). During the webinar, Paul Keeley, Director of regional development introduced the 5 key areas of focus for this team in 2021. One of these areas was making the best of urban outdoors. Under that pillar, Failte Ireland have announced the Outdoor Dining Enhancement Investment Scheme. Under this new outdoor...
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Last January we wrote a blog on the Great recovery in the Great Outdoors. Seeing as we are still waiting on a roadmap for reopening, it seems more and more likely that the outdoors is where it will be this year in regards tourism this year. Over the past number of months we have seen more and more funding provided for new greenways, walking trails...
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Coffee Culture is not a new thing in Ireland. Coffee houses can be traced back to the 16th century in Ireland with the new wave of Coffee shops popping up in the 21st century. Perhaps the best known Coffee brand- Starbucks- arrived in Ireland in 2005. As of 2019 they had 83 premises. Fast forward a couple of years and the popularity of independent coffee...
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