1.7+ million people in India to read about Offaly

More than 1.7 million people in India will be reading all about Offaly and Ireland later this year – following the visit of five leading journalists from India last week.

Invited here by Tourism Ireland, the group of journalists was from a variety of travel, lifestyle and fashion publications (including the Indian version of Ellemagazine), with a combined circulation of over 1.7 million people across India. They were here to experience what a holiday in Ireland has to offer – so that they can inspire their readers to put Offaly on their holiday ‘wish list’ for 2015 and beyond. Their itinerary included a visit to Clonmacnoise, followed by lunch at Killeen’s Bar & Restaurant in Shannonbridge.

Beena Menon, Tourism Ireland (third left) and Indian journalists during their visit to Ireland.

Amanda Burns, Tourism Ireland’s manager Asia, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to bring this group of influential journalists to Ireland – helping us to spread the good news about Offaly through the media in India. There really is no substitute for being able to come here and experience what Ireland has to offer at first-hand. The journalists were impressed by our spectacular scenery, the range of things to see and do, as well as by the friendliness of the people they met. I am confident that their visit will result in extensive and positive publicity for Offaly and Ireland, in a range of online and print publications in India.”

A key message for Tourism Ireland in India this year is the new British-Irish Visa Scheme, which enables visitors from India and China to visit both Ireland and the UK in 2015 on a single visa of either country. Amanda Burns continued: “The introduction of the British-Irish Visa Scheme is really good news, making it easier than ever before for visitors from India and China to visit the island of Ireland. Given that visitors from these markets are travelling a considerable distance, and often want to include more than one destination on their itinerary, it makes sense to make it as easy as possible for them to visit both Ireland and the UK on a single visa. We are working closely with our colleagues in VisitBritain, to leverage the benefits of the new scheme in both India and China.”