Foster promotes Belfast as 'City of Music'

Tourism Minister Arlene Foster launched Tourism Ireland’s marketing campaign to promote Belfast as a ‘City of Music’, today.

The £500,000 initiative, which will target over 10 million potential holidaymakers in Great Britain, tunes in to Belfast’s rich musical heritage in a bid to attract more tourists to the city this autumn.

The Minister said: “If we are to further boost tourism we must target specific markets. Encouraging holiday makers from GB to come over and enjoy the thriving music and festival scene here in Belfast is an ideal way to promote everything the city has to offer.

“The intensive programme of marketing activity over the coming weeks will emphasise Belfast’s wealth of musical talent and the tremendous choice that awaits visitors to the city.

“Given the later than ever booking pattern, we still have real opportunities to persuade people to take holidays and city breaks in Belfast and Northern Ireland.”

The new Tourism Ireland advertisements for Belfast, fronted by well-known DJ and TV presenter Annie Mac, will run on 60 national and regional radio stations serving over nine million listeners in GB. Belfast ads will also be heard by 3.5 million British users of ‘Spotify’, the music download website.

Fun online ads will also target music-lovers on websites like Yahoo!, MSN and Last.fm. Using the tagline ‘You Get To Choose the Line-Up’, the ads will highlight a diverse range of local musicians – such as Anthony Toner, Eilidh Patterson, Panama Kings and Cashier No. 9. Online direct marketing messages about Belfast will be sent to one million known music and city break enthusiasts around Britain.

Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “In these very competitive times, it is important to have ‘stand-out’ and compelling reasons to visit Belfast and Northern Ireland and this new campaign will capitalise on and highlight the continued growth in the festival scene and many musical events around the city.

“While the number of British people travelling abroad – to all destinations – has been impacted by the economic downturn, GB remains the largest and most important market for overseas tourism to Northern Ireland. We know that hundreds of thousands of British people will take a short break or holiday between now and the end of the year. Tourism Ireland aims to win as much of that business as possible. “

The new Belfast campaign comes on top of other Tourism Ireland promotional campaigns which are in full swing for the autumn in Great Britain and other important overseas markets to capitalise on the later booking pattern this year.

Notes to editors:

1. Highlights of the Belfast City of Music campaign include:

• Radio advertising: three new 30-second radio ads will bring Belfast to the attention of over nine million potential holidaymakers around GB. The ads will air on 60 national and regional radio stations and networks throughout GB – including Magic 105.4 (London), Key 103 (Manchester), Radio City 96.7 (Liverpool), Metro Radio (Newcastle), TFM Radio (Teeside), Hallam FM (Sheffield) and 97.4 Rock FM (Preston). The ads are presented by well-known DJ and TV presenter Annie Mac, who is synonymous with music throughout Britain.
• Online advertising: two new online ads have been developed and will run on key websites like Last.fm, Yahoo and MSN, delivering in excess of 16,000 clicks to the new Belfast music campaign page on the Tourism Ireland website, http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/campaigns/belfast. One of the ads features a wristband highlighting a range of Northern Ireland musicians; the second ad looks like a radio dial, allowing potential holidaymakers to see and choose from a variety of music venues around the city.
• Promoting on Spotify: audio ads will run on Spotify, the music streaming service, with DJ Annie Mac speaking from Ormeau Road’s Spring and Airbrake and Belfast band Cashier No. 9 performing in the background. A strong call-to-action invites Spotify users to click on the Belfast icon on their Spotify player, which brings them directly to the Belfast music campaign page.
• Online direct marketing: direct marketing messages about Belfast will be sent, by email, to one million known music and city break enthusiasts around Britain.
• Radiotorials (radio interviews) and an extensive PR and publicity campaign will complement the intensive programme of promotional activity over the coming weeks.

2. For media enquiries, please contact DETI Press Office on 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.