Cultural Tourism

The Tourist as your Customer

Kevin Kidney, Fáilte Ireland
 The Tourism Agencies

Responsibilities: Responsibilities:
Supporting the tourism industry. Marketing and promotion of
Developing the tourism experience the island of Ireland overseas.
in Ireland.
Domestic marketing.

Cultural Insights Initiative 2011

Tourism Facts 2009 and 2010 (f)

2009 2010 (f)

Out-of-State Visitors (000s) 6,555 5,865

Foreign Earnings (€m) 3,879 3,412

Domestic Trips (000s) 8,340 8,000

Domestic Revenue (€m) 1,390 1,251

Total Tourism Earnings 5,269 4,663

 The Role of Culture in Irish Tourism

2.9 million overseas visitors partook in cultural

activities whilst in Ireland in 2010 with
Mainland Europe accounting for 43% of this figure

Cultural Insights Initiative 2011

 Overseas Visitors Engaging in
Cultural Pursuits 2010

Overseas
Visitors
(000s)

Any cultural pursuit 2,900

(historical/cultural visits/gardens/festivals/events/
genealogy)

Visitors to places of cultural/historical 2,752

interest
(historic houses/castles/monuments/heritage/
interpretive centres/museums/art galleries)

Attending festivals/events 433

(arts/music/heritage/garden/sport/agriculture/
educational/food)

Source: Fáilte Ireland Survey of Overseas Travellers

 Overseas Holiday Visitors 2010

Visiting:
90% 85%
80% 71%
70% 60%
60% 56%
50% 44%
40%
30%
20% 11%
10%
0%

Source: Fáilte Ireland Survey of Overseas Travellers

 Average Length of Stay
Overseas Holiday-Makers

7.5
6.9

All Overseas Cultural & Historical

Source: Fáilte Ireland Survey of Overseas Travellers
 Global Perspective
Cultural Tourism….
• Accounts for 35-40% of all tourism worldwide (WTO)
• Growing at rate of 15% per annum –
3 times rate of general tourism
• It’s a generalist not a specialist activity
• Can provide context for other activities / products
• Visitors want innovative ways of accessing Culture &
Heritage
• Looking for broad, themed & authentic experiences
• Move from observation based to more embracing and
participatory experiences
 Culture and Heritage
The Irish Perspective

• Key differentiator & a unique element of the Irish

experience
• Regularly cited in top 3 distinguishing factors (USPs) for
Ireland (FI Visitor Attitudes Survey)
• Over 2 in every 3 holiday-makers visits a Cultural or
Heritage site during their stay
• Closely aligned with Tourism Ireland’s broad destination
message
Cultural tourists tend to:

- Be highly educated

- Stay longer and spend more

- Be considered more ‘recession proof’

than other tourists

- Be increasingly interested in learning

while on holiday
3 key cohorts of Culture & Heritage
tourists
Motivation

My holiday is built around a specific

Motivated cultural element for example a
Christian Heritage or garden tour

I have a strong interest in culture and

sightseeing and a large part of my
Inspired
holiday is spent exploring cultural
opportunities

I come into contact with cultural or

heritage related experiences by
Incidental accident without any advance
planning
Overseas - Heritage Associations
Heritage
Overseas - Cultural Associations
Culture
 Key Issues
• Lack of Awareness
• Ease of Accessibility
• Customer Experience
• Coherent product offering
 The Challenge
• Offer Tourists better
experience on the ground

• Increase number of tourists

visiting Ireland by leveraging
culture and heritage offering
 Priorities
• Ensure high quality experience (both tangible and
intangible elements)
• Support the communication of the ‘Brand Ireland’
message – raise awareness
• Develop industry skills set
• Interpretation, bringing experience to life
• Insights – bench-marking, best practice, monitoring
and measurement
• Innovation in the offering, particularly in technologies
 Communications
• Examine your business
• Set targets (customers and revenue)
• Set pricing – be clear about value
• Work with partners – tour operators,
accommodation, packages
• Develop and optimise website
• Targeted PR / media campaign – tell a story
• Organise Events
• Talk to your customers
• Monitoring and measurement
THANK YOU!