Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing Ireland as a holiday destination overseas. They operate 41 websites in 19 languages that received over 12 million visits and 64 million page views in 2008. Online advertising, partnerships, email marketing, and search engine marketing are important parts of Tourism Ireland's strategy. Their social media strategy involves having a presence on key social media platforms, running social media campaigns, and amplifying content through calls to action, PR, and advertising. Some initial social media activities on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter had mixed success. Lessons learned are that social media requires a lot of time and effort to manage properly and its impact on direct sales is still unclear. Recommendations include engaging with sites like TripAdvisor, monitoring key

1. Social Media Experiences Hotel Website Marketing Conference 24 th November 2009 Presented by Brian Harte Head of Customer Engagement and eMarketing Tourism Ireland

2. Tourism Ireland’s Role Responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas as a holiday destination “ ”

3. 41 Websites – 19 Languages 12 m visits 64 m page views 2 m referrals +28% vs 2008

12. # Hashtags #irelandoffer

18. Lessons Learned … not just for Christmas

23. Thank You [email_address]