The Irish Greyhound Board is setting off on a major campaign of international promotion under the banner of the ‘Guaranteed Irish’ Logo.
Over 1,000 French tourists in Dublin for the weekend RBS Six Nations attended racing at Shelbourne Park after the Aviva Stadium clash on Saturday as part of an arrangement with official tour operators bringing fans to Dublin.
This is part of an estimated 40,000 international tourists that will go to the dogs during their stay here according to the commercial semi state body which promotes the sport as well as operating nine of the country’s 17 tracks.
The new campaign will be backed by a new membership of the Guaranteed Irish organisation. This was set up in 1975, primarily as a means of supporting Irish jobs and businesses and the sport will be one of the first to actively use the familiar ‘G’ logo.
Britain, France and Germany are the top three destinations from which tourists are travelling and as part of the new campaign the Greyhound Board will be appearing as part of the Fáilte Ireland presence at a number of key European Tour Operators events.
Earlier this year it was the first sporting organisation to unveil a themed programme based around local Gathering events.
“As a sporting organisation in Ireland we are delighted to be able to use Ireland’s most trusted and recognised symbol for Irish goods and services while promoting Irish greyhound racing at home and abroad,” said Orla Strumble, Head of Marketing at the Irish Greyhound Board.
“Attracting foreign tourists to Ireland plays a large role in what we do each year and we are looking forward to welcoming tens of thousands more people to greyhound tracks across Ireland in 2013 and beyond. The addition of the Guaranteed Irish symbol will be an additional benefit whilst we target new tourist audiences for 2014.”
In coming weeks the campaign will take in the ‘Best of Britain and Ireland’ tourism event in Birmingham; Meitheal at the RDS organised by Failte Ireland and the European Tour Operators Association where the Irish Greyhound Board will get to sell to European Tour Operators for the 2014 market, this includes new representatives based in Europe who organize tours from India, China and new and emerging markets.
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