From some of the hippest eateries in the West, to some of the most inspiring landscapes and walking trails, surf breaks and seaweed baths, Strandhill is a surf mecca along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way.
With a busy tourism season throughout the summer, the local Strandhill Community Development have leveraged funding from the government’s Town and Village Renewal Scheme to support an integrated tourism marketing campaign to extend the tourism season, and encourage return visits in autumn to the Strandhill and Coolera Peninsula.
The new campaign was launched at a Swell Sligo training event on Tuesday 19th June. The breakfast event took place in Strandhill Golf Club with a packed line-up of speakers on sustainable tourism, digital marketing and PR.
Speakers included Cillian Murphy of Loop Head Tourism, and Lisa Regan from Galway’s West End who both spoke about sustainable tourism in the West of Ireland.
Comprehensive campaign for the whole peninsula
Commenting on the launch, Cllr Sinead Maguire said, “This is an unique example of the community coming together to promote our local businesses. It is based on the premise of one supports the other and all will benefit, at the heart of this campaign is a wish to have a comprehensive campaign for the peninsula as a whole. We are incredibly fortunate with the array of tourism opportunities we have on offer from beach to mountain to one of the most significant archaeological sites in Western Europe and we as a community were delighted to get the opportunity to promote them.“
The campaign is set to extend the tourism season into autumn, as well as increasing the length of bed-nights per person and spend per head by initially targeting families and social energisers – two tourism audiences who want action-packed days as well as fun-filled nights.
Three key elements
Adopting three strategic thrusts for the marketing of Strandhill this summer, the initiative includes an integrated marketing campaign to share all the inspiring Strandhill moments from dawn to dusk, incentivising return visits in autumn, and enhancing the delivery of the overall tourism message to include heritage assets like Carrowmore Megalithic Tombs, walking trails on Knocknarea and Killaspugbrone, as well as the well known activities of surfing and water sports.
Diverse and creative digital campaign
A focal point of the campaign is a new social media campaign called Strandhill Moments which will encourage visitors and locals alike to Strandhill to use the hashtag #StrandhillMoments.
The campaign includes a revamp of the tourism website GoStrandhill.com, featuring interactive map with attractions and local businesses, Strandhill package deals and featured itineraries for families and groups, as well as marketing, training and mentoring supports for local tourism businesses.
A team of local creative professionals has been commissioned to work on the campaign. A new media bank of photos has been commissioned and will be available to support the campaign through online channels and in print media. A new series of promotional videos have also been commissioned and will be released across the summer and autumn months.
An overarching goal of the campaign is also to promote responsible and sustainable tourism development while safeguarding the unique culture, heritage and biodiversity of the peninsula through cooperation with all stakeholders in the wider community.
The campaign will also tie in with Failte Ireland’s promotion of the Northwest coastline as the Surf Coast along the Wild Atlantic Way, and the new tourism strategy launched by Sligo Tourism recently.
For further information on the campaign, see gostrandhill.com or follow the hashtag online #StrandhillMoments