Tourism Ireland sets its sights on a strong year for tourism to the island of Ireland from the United States
Tourism Ireland launches 2025 marketing plans in New York
Tourism Ireland in the United States launched its marketing plans for 2025 yesterday (Tuesday 11th February), at an event in New York attended by leading US tour operators, airlines and journalists from the tri-State area.
The US is the island of Ireland’s second-largest source of overseas tourism revenue (27% of all tourism revenue). Tourism Ireland will prioritise the United States once again in 2025, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure.
Tourism Ireland will invest in an extensive and targeted programme of activity in the United States throughout 2025. Sustainable development is at the core of Tourism Ireland’s plans for the year ahead, so there will be continued focus on attracting tourists who have ‘value adding tourism traits’ – people who are likely to see more, do more, enjoy more and therefore spend more when they visit.
New for 2025 is ‘Slow Tourism Month’, in June. Tourism Ireland will enable more exploration, with trip ideas that allow for dwell time in communities and scenery and that can be enjoyed by rail, bus or with tour partners, winning overnight stays across regions.
Tourism Ireland’s ‘Fill your heart with Ireland’ campaign will deliver an estimated 289 million opportunities to see in the US in 2025. The campaign is running on multiple channels, including on TV in key gateway cities, Connected TV (including Amazon and, Disney+), as well as on social and digital.
Sporting moments present key opportunities. 2025 is an important year for golf, as Northern Ireland hosts The Open at Royal Portrush in July and Ireland prepares for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in 2027. Partnerships with leading US golf media will be rolled out to leverage the tourism potential of these prestigious sporting events. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic will take place once again in Dublin in August – this time between Kansas State and Iowa State – delivering an estimated €100 million to the economy. And just last week it was announced that Ireland is also set to host a regular season NFL fixture for the first time in autumn 2025.
Tourism Ireland’s focus is on increasing the value of overseas tourism, sustainably supporting economies, communities and the environment – by inspiring potential US visitors and strengthening strategic partnerships.
Speaking at the launch in New York, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “Looking to the year ahead, we have an ambitious marketing programme to support a healthy tourism industry through the regional and season spread of visitors. This year, there are direct flights from 22 different US gateways, including new services from Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville, which will certainly help drive growth.
“We will be launching a new campaign this year to elevate ‘brand Ireland’ and win hearts, minds and trips. We will be collaborating with our valued airline partners to support demand for routes to Ireland. With 80% of visitors researching and booking trips online, we will be sharing daily inspiration with our followers on social media and supporting deep research visits on our website, increasingly optimised for AI. Working with US broadcasters, we look forward to TV and streaming shows featuring reasons to visit that will air to key audiences. Sporting moments like The Open at Royal Portrush and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic present key opportunities, with promotional programmes already under way. Festivals create additional moments to spotlight, as we win holidays from overseas visitors to grow the benefits of tourism across the year.”
Notes to Editors:
Below are some highlights of Tourism Ireland’s activity to inspire US holidaymakers to visit the island of Ireland in 2025.
- Tourism Ireland will create 289 million advertising ‘opportunities to see’. A new ‘Fill your heart with Ireland’ campaign will be developed which will ensure high levels of awareness to grow interest and ultimately bookings.
- Tourism Ireland’s publicity activity will create 770 million ‘opportunities to see’ messages about the island of Ireland in tier one media outlets such as PBS, NBC, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure magazine, with a focus on stories showcasing the magic of our regions.
- Tourism Ireland will continue to co-produce high quality broadcast shows which benefit tourism. Upcoming opportunities include shows like Barefeet with Mickela Mallozzi, Joseph Rosendo’s Steppin’ Out and Canvasing The World, which will air on PBS.
- Tourism Ireland will be partnering with airlines – including Aer Lingus, Delta Airlines, United, American Airlines and JetBlue – to inspire demand for services to Ireland.
- 2025 is an important year for golf, as Northern Ireland hosts The Open at Royal Portrush in July and we prepare for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in 2027. Partnerships with leading US golf media will be rolled out to leverage the tourism potential of these prestigious sporting events.
- A strong focus on driving more business to our regions will include a ‘twinning’ initiative – with each of our key overseas markets ‘twinning’ with, and placing a greater focus on, a specific region or area of Ireland. The United States will twin with Fermanagh, Tyrone, Mayo and Sligo.
- Seasonal themes and events will deliver the message that the island of Ireland offers a world-class product all year round. This will include particular emphasis on St Patrick’s Day and Halloween, as well as event-based opportunities like TradFest.
- Tourism Ireland will continue to connect tourism operators across the island of Ireland with US travel trade and consumers – via sales missions, co-operative campaigns and Business Events promotions like IMEX America.