Tourism Ireland planning 2021 kick-start recovery campaign with ‘hope and optimism’
The Irish Examiner

A tourism chief has vowed the sector can recover in 2021 from the devastating effects of Covid-19.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said after a devastating 2020, with the pandemic causing havoc for the travel and tourism industry across the globe, 2021 will see the restart of international travel.

Mr Gibbons said the organisation has a three-phase plan to restart, rebuild and ultimately redesign demand next year.

It is planning a significant kick-start campaign, which will be launched, possibly around St Patrick’s Day 2021, to drive bookings and revenue for tourism businesses.

It will deliver a very clear “book now” message to create demand for summer holidays here, in order to save businesses and create jobs.

He said: “This has been a catastrophic year for everyone in our industry, but I do believe that tourism can, and will, recover from this pandemic. Recent news about vaccines is really positive and gives us hope for travel in 2021.

“In our research, Northern Ireland and Ireland have consistently been among the destinations that holidaymakers say they would be most comfortable visiting, even while social distancing measures are in place.

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