20 Apr 2020

The Giant Spirit of Northern Ireland - Supporting the Tourism Industry

In light of the global Covid-19 crisis and the difficult times for our tourism industry, we are refocusing our marketing activity. We want to do our best to share everything that is great about the spirit of the people of Northern Ireland and wanted to keep you updated on the work we are planning. Here is how you can join the conversation.*

What is the opportunity?

An opportunity to be part of our marketing response to the COVID-19 outbreak by joining our digital, social and PR activity to share Northern Ireland popular culture and themes in the NI and ROI markets.

Whilst we can’t actively promote travel to Northern Ireland, we’re working hard to plan our response to Covid-19 across the organisation. This means that when the time comes for us to promote travel to Northern Ireland once more, we will have maintained a warm dialogue with consumers to ensure Northern Ireland remains top of mind.

The below provides an overview of our planned response in Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland to the current situation across Tourism Northern Ireland’s consumer marketing and PR channels.

Marketing and PR Content Strategy

We will be sharing content focused on certain themes linked to Northern Ireland designed to help consumers beat the boredom and frustration (including quizzes and trivia):

  • Film & TV (e.g. Game of Thrones, Derry Girls, Line of Duty)
  • Literature (author inspiration and literary locations)
  • Food & Drink (recipes from our iconic chefs and food traditions, cocktails ideas from our distilleries)
  • Music (famous home-grown bands, Spotify playlists, music locations)
  • Heritage & gardens (virtual museum tours, outdoor spaces, showcasing of museum exhibits and art)

This content will be shared with media and/or on our own consumer digital channels on as appropriate.

As restrictions are lifted down the line and we begin to anticipate travel to Northern Ireland, we will move into sharing inspirational content aligned with our Northern Ireland Embrace a Giant Spirit brand so that consumers can begin planning their visit.

What can I contribute?

We would very much welcome the below content from our industry. Please share copy, images and video where possible.

Content related to things that people can do safely at home:

  • Northern Ireland Recipes
  • Arts and Craft ideas
  • Wellness and exercise tips
  • Playlist and book suggestions (featuring your favourite NI bands and authors)
  • Virtual material (such as virtual video tours of museums and gardens)
  • Quiz ideas and trivia questions
  • Any other innovative ideas you may have of how we can maintain a warm dialogue with consumers about Northern Ireland at this time.

Format requirements: Video and photos should be in landscape format where possible. You can email us digital@tourismni.com with this content.

Not sure how to get started with videos? Check out our handy tips guide available here.

What can I do on my own channels?

Unfortunately, consumers can’t come to visit your experience right now but you can still encourage a warm dialogue through digital channels which will ensure that your experience is top of mind when they start planning their short break in the future.

Take some time to think about what you can do on your own channels to promote your tourism business. What is your expertise? What can you offer people while still encouraging them to stay safe and at home?

  • A virtual tour on facebook – bring your experience to them!
  • A fun and interactive Instagram poll
  • A live reading/ gig/ cookery demonstration
  • A blog article about local artisan businesses now doing deliveries
  • A blog article relevant to your expertise – gardening tips, wellbeing tips etc.
  • A live Q & A about your tourism experience

Use the hashtags #disoverni and #embraceagiantspirit and tag Discover Northern Ireland on facebook, twitter and instagram to be part of the conversation.

Recovery

We are committed to supporting the industry once Northern Ireland tourism moves into the recovery phase. We will continue to update you regularly. We are working on making more guidance available to support you during this period. Please follow our corporate website and subscribe to our industry newsletter for more information as it becomes available

*There may come a point where it will not be appropriate or make sense to share tourism marketing content and we will make sure to let you know if and when our approach changes.