SELLING IRELAND AND

ADVENTURE EXPERIENCES

ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

- Keith McDonnell, Extreme Ireland

- Cathy Wolfe, Connemara Wild Escapes

.

...this is a story about a guy

...who was addicted to the outdoors

...yes this is Ireland

...so he had a GREAT idea

...he turned his PASSION into a BUSINESS

...and has gone from here

• Started Hiking Tours in 2007 on part-time basis • Diversified in 2010 to offer Day Tours to The Cliffs Of Moher and the Giants Causeway on a year round basis

...to here

ADVENTURE HIKING ALL Ireland INERNATIONAL Coach Tours 2 TOURISM OFFICES

TRANSPORT | ACCOMMODATION ACTIVITIES | MEALS | GUIDES

...and now, where can we go? Top of the world!

Expensive to

translate my

website

Who can HELP?

Marketing

Expensive to

translate my

website MaRKeting

Who can HELP?

me you

US

Selling Ireland as a destination...

Partner with complimentary local product offerings

It can only benefit you both!!

me you

US

Selling Ireland as a destination...

Get out there...

Talk to everyone...

Continuously!!

World’s leading online travel company

Proud to have +21,000 bookings every day

Largest tour operator in Germany

Working with +2,000 travel agents & sales points

1. Difficult to get seen online

2. Expensive to translate & create a multi-lingual website

3. International competition

OTAs have large $$$ budgets we can only dream of

OTAs translate free of charge

OTAs sell to millions of international tourists

OTAs sell by destination

RESULTS

30% of Extreme Ireland’s bookings come from OTAs

Ambassadorfor

Ireland

You put in a lot of hard work &

recognition comes down the line

Ambassadorfor

Ireland

Ambassadorfor

Ireland

Same

Issues

Globally

Ambassadorfor

Ireland

Connemara Wild Escapes is a destination management / tour operator

offering activity safari packages to the West of Ireland :-

Walking

Cycling

Angling

Adventure

Leisure (History, heritage & culture, festivals,

gardens, cruises, wellness, golf, equestrian,

islands, wildlife, food, creative arts & crafts)

www.connemarawildescapes.ie

Background of both businesses, where they have come from, where they are at today

Connemara Wild Escapes background - 2013 Entrepreneurial background in strategy, marketing, advertising & sales

Started as online tour operator selling multi day angling packages to Connemara

Info deficit on activity packaged holidays – wanted to make it easy to buy online

Formed 2011, set up, website fail in 2011, redo of website plus expansion of

product offering to include walking, cycling, leisure & adventure packages,

First season 2012. Added 1 day packages. Destination management company

2013 - Destination management tour operator selling west of Ireland.

Focus on set up, sales & travel trade + Strategic alliances to consumer markets

Defining channels-market, products and packages

Targeting consumer market next

Expanding to sell broader west of Ireland

SELL, SELL, SELL! - Define correct buyers

Selling Ireland as an Adventure Destination on the International stage Define word ‘Adventure’ = Soft adventure approx 70% of EXPERIENCES

ATTA-Adventure experience=Engagement with activity, landscape and local peoples

Position and promote the Island of Ireland first…

Own destination and product offering second

Suggestions on how best to sell Ireland:

Ireland is on everyone’s bucket list...!!!

Know what other destinations offer and how to position your Ireland

product USPs against the competition eg: Scotland

Find out needs & expectations, then position

your product accordingly, action the

lead/sale or past the lead on!

Networking - Its importance nationally & internationally… SME’s have to learn to work with businesses that sell internationally

Networking is so CRITICAL

If you don’t know how LEARN HOW effectively

Referral is everything - both nationally and internationally.

Know who you need to market to, research, attend & engage with both the

national and international networking opportunities on offer.

Opportunities arise in the strangest of places, certainly when you least

expect it! Be prepared

Be true to yourself, your product , your offering

Know your product, your competition, trends,

latest research, keep up to date & innovate

Being an Adventure Ambassador – Learnings & the ATTA Summits Being an Adventure Ambassador is a huge privilege & opportunity:-

Offers much opportunity to accredit your company & offerings, both nationally

and internationally.

Connemara Wild Escapes is also a Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) Ambassador

ATTA Summit Switzerland 2012 (my 1st )

Opportunity to learn and network with other Irish ambassadors

Met like minded international tour operators, media who were interested in my

destination within Ireland

They understood more fully my various offerings

Best sales lead opportunities so far

Best networking opportunities so far

Being an Adventure Ambassador – Learnings & the ATTA Summits ATTA Summit Switzerland 2013:-

Work on existing networking contacts and leads developed from 2012

Targeting new leads and media opportunities

Learnings and insights from the conference presentations

Networking to build more relationships within ‘the tribe’ of operators

‘Adventure travel, which represents 26% of global tourism is experiencing 17% annualised growth’. Source ATTA

We as adventure travel operators and suppliers have huge opportunity ahead!

Make sure you are on board !

Keep learning!

Thank you