Bringing it all back home

Described as the largest tourism initiative ever undertaken by the State, The Gathering 2013’s prime objective is to entice an extra 325,000 visitors to the Republic next year

AT A TIME when Government departments are under relentless pressure to pare back expenditure, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar has been given permission to spend millions throwing a party.

The Gathering Ireland 2013, which is to be funded by his department, aims to persuade hundreds of thousands of people to make a special effort to come here next year to take part in festivals, cultural and sporting events, family reunions, business meetings and myriad other occasions, and to tap into Ireland’s ability to make people feel welcome.

The project is being described by its organisers as the largest tourism initiative ever undertaken by the State.

In the main, it involves a massive effort, directed by a central steering group, to get the public to come up with ways to encourage people to visit Ireland during 2013.

A budget of €5 million has been sanctioned for this year by Varadkar’s department in order to promote the idea, and it is expected a similar amount of public money will be spent on the project next year.

The prime objective is to entice an extra 325,000 visitors to the Republic next year, whether they be tourists, people here for business purposes, or people visiting relatives.

According to Áine Kavanagh, a spokeswoman for the project team, another aspect of the idea is to encourage Irish people to “live a bit” and enjoy themselves after the difficult few years we have been through and those which still lie ahead.

According to Fáilte Ireland, there were 6.24 million overseas visitors to the Republic in 2011 and they spent a total of €3.16 billion. The previous year there were 5.95 million visitors and they spent €3 billion, while in 2009 there were 6.58 million visitors and they spent €3.4 billion.

This makes for an average spend of approximately €500, or an additional spend of €162 million into the Irish economy if an extra 325,000 visitors were convinced to come here.

Project director of The Gathering, Jim Miley, says that a more conservative estimate of a per-person spend is probably justified given that many of those who respond to The Gathering message will be staying with family or friends.

The Central Statistics Office, which collects data on visitor numbers, is to include a line in its surveys in 2013 asking people if their visit is connected with The Gathering project. The project has also set up a website ( thegatheringireland.com) and has asked those who have organised events to register and give information as to the number of foreign visitors they expect.

With these tools, the organisers expect to be able to measure the effect of the project, despite the significant variation in visitor numbers year-on-year to the Republic.

A key part of the strategy is the involvement of local communities in what is to be a State-wide effort. Already every county has a co-ordinator for the project and a “cell structure” is being created through which local authorities, local community groups, businesses and other organisations can become involved.

Two-thirds of these local cells are already in place and public meetings have been held in 12 counties so far. Miley, who has attended most of these, says the average attendance has been in the region of 150.

A core part of these facilitated, structured meetings is the setting up of round table groups of 10 who are asked to come up with ideas and names for the people who will try to advance these ideas. Already some 300 events have been registered with the central project team.

One of the first meetings was in early June, in the Abbey Hotel in Roscommon. There were approximately 200 people present, with representatives of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, the GAA, the local tourist industry and the local authorities among those taking part.

“One of the ideas to emerge had to do with a female vet, Aileen Isobel Cust, who found it impossible to get work in Britain in the 1890s, because she was a woman. But then a vet in Roscommon contacted her and let her practice with him. So it was decided to have a convention of female vets in Roscommon next year, based on this heritage,” says Kavanagh.

The idea for The Gathering had its genesis at the first global forum meeting in Farmleigh under the Cowen government but nothing came of it. When the new Government came to power, Fáilte Ireland made a presentation to Varadkar and he decided to run with it. He got support from the Taoiseach, who was minister for tourism in the Rainbow Coalition in the 1990s.

The bulk of the team of approximately 20 working on the project are on secondment from Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. Miley came on board in May having been selected through a tender process run by Fáilte Ireland.

He says he was attracted to the idea because of his background, which includes work in marketing, politics (he was general secretary of Fine Gael for a number of years in the 1990s) and organisational management.

He has a 12-month contract which is likely to be extended by a further six. Asked what his salary is, he refused to say, citing a confidentiality agreement. “It’s not enough,” was all he would say.

“The project is a blend of all the various experiences I’ve had in the past. There’s a lot of leveraging and networking, and political connections are important because it is Government driven.”

Marketing is a key element of the project and something which, he says, “really lights my fire”.

According to Kavanagh the project involves activating and mobilising the citizens of Ireland and engaging with them to take ownership of the project at a local level. “This requires extensive national and regional communications support, with a strong focus on community engagement.”

Following a tendering process earlier this year, the communications contract for the project was awarded to Q4 Public Relations, which will play a key role in the communication of the project’s message around the State.

Tourism Ireland, which promotes Ireland abroad, is to spend an extra €2 million this year and next, promoting the idea in target markets such as the United States and Canada, Britain and Australia.

With regard to consumer advertising, The Gathering is using DDFHB under the current tendered Fáilte Ireland contract with the advertising company.

Aside from the website and county-by-county cell structure and public meetings, the marketing of the idea includes social media, a schools programme and the planned direct marketing of the project to every home in the State.

The project team has the benefit of a supervisory board whose knowledge and contacts are available for use. “They roll up their sleeves and get directly involved,” says Miley.

By way of example, he says Dave Geraghty of Google, who is on the board, has helped with the organisation of the live streaming on YouTube of the “pep rally” in the O2 tonight, which is linked to tomorrow’s Notre Dame/Navy Academy clash at the Aviva Stadium, which is being used to market The Gathering in the US.

Other members of the advisory board are: Mark O’Boyle of NUI Maynooth; John Crumlish of the Galway Arts Festival; Ruth Andrews of the Irish Tour Operators Association; Marian Vickers of the Northside Partnership; and Frank Dawson of the County City Managers Association.

The board is chaired by Tim O’Connor, formerly a senior civil servant and now a business consultant, non-executive director of a number of companies, and a promoter of foreign direct investment into Ireland.

Varadkar has said the idea is to reach out to everyone with an interest in Ireland, not just the diaspora. His department is to make a Gathering element a condition for any funding that will be made available to festivals and other department-funded events during 2013.

The New Year’s Eve celebrations in Dublin are to involve a large fireworks display and a torch-lit procession in which up to 8,000 visitors from abroad will be able to take part. Likewise the St Patrick’s Day parade in the capital is going to be opened up to visitors from abroad who register to take part in it.

Varadkar suggests people thinking of inviting relatives from abroad arrange for them to come during 2013 and to organise the visit around some festival or event. His own family, he says, is considering a reunion in Waterford and may hold it around the time of the harvest festival there.

The business community is also being invited to organise its affairs with The Gathering in mind. Accountancy firm KPMG is making a special effort to have people who did their training with the firm in Ireland and who now work abroad, come to their annual alumni dinner in 2013. Seating has been increased to 800 from the normal 400 for the event, which is booked for the National Convention Centre.

Ibec, the employers’ group, is looking at how it can get involved, as are companies and business groups throughout the State.

Miley says the associated benefits of the project include enhancing Ireland’s reputation abroad and engendering greater community spirit at home. He expects there to be a “legacy” aspect to the project that will strengthen Ireland’s ties with Irish people abroad, something which could lead to increased tourism and foreign direct investment.

“Diaspora marketing is quite well developed in some countries. Israel is way ahead of the game,” he says. The Gathering 2013, it is hoped, will form part of Ireland’s effort to replicate Israel’s success.

RAISING OUR GAME: AMERICAN FOOTBALL CLASH USED TO PROMOTE THE GATHERING ACROSS THE WORLD

Tomorrow’s American football clash between Notre Dame and the US Naval Academy in Lansdowne Road is being used to raise awareness of The Gathering Ireland 2013 project in the United States and elsewhere.

The State has paid €600,000 to become the title sponsor for the game and to get access to the TV coverage associated with the event.

The presenting partner is CBS sport, which is broadcasting the game live in the US, to a potential 115 million households there and, via ESPN, to a potential 20 million in Europe. It is estimated that three to five million people in the US will tune in.

The tickets to the game were sold out some time ago and the bulk of the fans attending will be people who have travelled here from the US for the clash.

“Through the game coverage, we will reach out to millions of households across the US and Europe, communicating our simple message: next year is the year to come to Ireland and be a part of The Gathering Ireland 2013, a year-long celebration of Ireland and all things Irish,” says Jim Miley, project director of The Gathering.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is to be interviewed on CBS during the game and the project is hopeful that other editorial elements of the four-hour plus live broadcast will help get The Gathering message across.

The so-called Emerald Isle classic is not the brainchild of The Gathering project team but is being used by it to market the idea.

Businessman Martin Naughton of Glen Dimplex is heavily involved in having the game played here.

The match opens the college football season for the two teams and has developed into a major opportunity for fostering contacts with Irish America.

During the days surrounding the event, Naughton will be hosting dinners at which 200 guests from corporate America will be entertained.

A business forum will also be held in Government Buildings.

Other events include a “pep rally” tonight in the O2 which will be compered by broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan and which the Taoiseach is scheduled to address.

An additional 36 transatlantic flights have been added to the schedule at Dublin Airport as a result of the event, which is prompting the biggest ever movement of Americans into Ireland, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

For the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar, the event offers an ideal opportunity to promote The Gathering Ireland 2013 directly to the thousands of Americans travelling, as well as the expected multi-million television audience.

“We’ll be using this weekend to highlight the unique bond that exists between Ireland and the US, and encouraging Americans watching at home to see Ireland at first hand in 2013.”

GATHERING PACE: SOME OF THE EVENTS

The Gathering Ireland 2013 website has a list of registered gatherings which can be viewed according to county or date. They include:

* The Stack clan gathering, Listowel, Co Kerry, January 31st

* The Tralee, Co Kerry, global gathering of Irish marathon runners, March 16th

* Acendio nursing conference, Dublin, March 22nd

* The International Pan Celtic Festival, Carlow, April 2nd to 7th

* Kilbeggan Races, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, May 3rd

* Lobsters and Lettuce, a celebration of life beside the Atlantic, Bundoran, Co Donegal, July 5th

* Kilkenny School Irish Dance workshop, Kilkenny, August 1st

* The Gallagher clan gathering, Gortahork, Co Donegal, September 6th

* Sligo Live music festival, Sligo, September 23rd

* Fecava Euro Congress of veterinary associations, Dublin, October 2nd

* Corona Cork Film Festival, Cork, November 10th

* Feile Mí na Nollaig, choral festival, Carlingford, Co Louth, December 7th