Tourism NI hosts Marketing Masterclass in Belfast

Photo caption (L-R): L-R Carmel Scott, Head of Marketing at Tourism NI, Fiona Jago, Jago Communications, Lavinea Morris from M&C Saatchi, Kathy Wilford, Digital Asset Co-ordinator at Tourism NI, Patrick McConville from TBWA, Joanne McKendry from Ardmore and Carolyn Boyd, Industry Development Manager at Tourism NI, pictured at this week's Marketing Masterclass.

During the event at the Crowne Plaza, the almost 200 attendees heard from Carmel Scott, Head of Marketing at Tourism NI, who spoke about the upcoming Spring campaign and how their tourism businesses can get involved.

The campaign, which launches Ireland-wide on Monday and runs until the end of March, will include TV, outdoor advertising, radio, press and social and digital media, to encourage visitors to choose a short break in Northern Ireland this Spring.

The campaign will have an extensive reach of approximately 77% of adults across the island of Ireland and will generate over 100 million opportunities to see or hear the activity.

The tourism and hospitality businesses that took part in this week’s masterclass were also given practical guidance on how they can plan, manage and maximise their marketing content.

A key highlight was the launch of Tourism NI’s new Content Pool - a central resource which has been created to support tourism businesses with high-quality, ready-to-use assets to enhance marketing efforts.

Those gathered also heard from the marketing agencies who work alongside Tourism NI.

Fiona Hanna & Courtney McGuigan, from Jago Communications, spoke about `How to choose, use and maximise influencer content effectively’ while Joanne McKendry, Media Director at Ardmore, spoke about ‘The media landscape and how best to target TNI perspective visitors for maximum results’.

In addition, Patrick McConville, from TBWA, presented on `Insights and intro to our prospective visitors’, while Lavinea Morris, from M&C Saatchi, spoke about `Maximising paid digital and social performance’.

The marketing masterclass was one element of Tourism NI’s exciting new programme of business opportunities to help the tourism sector supercharge their offering this Spring.

The programme also includes AI-themed webinars and Regional Business Clinics, as well as Tourism NI’s flagship 'Meet the Buyer’ event, which will take place at ICC Belfast on March 26 and 27.

The Spring programme aims to provide tailored support in crucial areas for tourism businesses to help them add value and impact to their offering.

Further information about the Spring programme is available at Tourism Enterprise Development Programme