Media&Marketing: Some subtle changes in the approach to marketing Ireland as a tourist destination were signalled last week at the launch of Tourism Ireland's 2005 marketing plans.

As the industry continues to grapple with an increasingly negative reaction to prices, especially among continental European visitors, a strategic response is called for.

The response needed is one that addresses the need for greater cost competitiveness on key areas such as food and drink, but recognises the need to target niche customer groups that offer less price sensitivity.

The audience at the plan's launch were treated to a series of individual profiles of such customers as the Outdoor Actives and the Luxury Lovers. The latter group, we were told, is growing in number. These are people who spend on quality, like to be pampered and are cosmopolitan in taste.

The plan acknowledges that the Irish continue to be a major factor in stimulating visits to Ireland.

However, there has been a sharp drop in tourists citing Irish people as a tourism advantage, from 54 per cent of visitors in 1997 to 41 per cent in 2003.

The plan acknowledges the need for tourism enterprises to put more efforts into ensuring a quality experience for the visitor is maintained.

There is also a need to ensure that in their interaction with the public, visitors are left with positive experiences.

While we cannot legislate for people's interaction with visitors, maybe we should consider doing more to ensure that our image as a friendly people is maintained.

Perhaps we are reaching a stage where a similarly funded initiative should be launched to remind the public of the value of tourism to the health of the national economy, and of the need to keep the welcome as warm as ever for our visitors.

Online ads boom

2004 may come to be recognised as the coming of age of internet advertising.

The soaring expectations that preceded the internet advertising crash earlier in the decade are being echoed again.

This time, however, it is not the dotcoms that are leading the charge, but mainstream advertisers encouraged by the increased accountability offered by the medium.

In the US, Ford has moved 10 per cent of its advertising budget to online media.

New York consulting firm eMarketer predicts that internet advertising revenues in 2004 will have increased by 30 per cent compared to those in 2003.

Mr Paul Moran of Dublin firm Mediaworks confirmed that in Ireland sectors such as travel and entertainment were putting between 10 and 15 per cent of advertising spend on the medium, citing the willingness of some site owners to charge only on a "pay-per-click" basis as a key factor in enhancing the medium's attractiveness.

Mr Stuart Fogarty, managing director of AFA O'Meara, was more sanguine about the sector's prospects in 2005, claiming that, unlike the press and outdoor sectors, the online market could do more to sell itself to advertising agencies, by which the internet was still seen as a complex and time-consuming, medium to buy in.

Radio ad awards

Details of the 2005 Radio Advertising Awards have been announced. The awards, now in their 12th year, are sponsored by Smart Telecom and feature 12 separate categories. All advertising agencies writing for radio in Ireland are eligible to enter. The closing date for entries is January 20th.

New QMP director

Mr Tom Doherty has been appointed managing director of advertising agency QMP Publicis. He joined the agency in September 2003 and will take over from Mr Conor Quinn, who becomes chairman, with responsibility for overall strategy and business development.

The company says its clients include P&G, TG4, Kraft and Opel Dealers of Ireland.

The QMP Group employs 97 people and says its current billings are €92 million.

Local TV approved

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has approved in principle a first local content contract of the broadcasting of local television in Ireland to Waterford @ 8, a 40-minute programme currently aired on local cable channels in Waterford city and county.

The programme, which is funded by local radio station WLR, has aired for the past five years. Until now there has been no legal mechanism covering such local broadcast initiatives.

Alex Gibson is senior lecturer in marketing at the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, DIT and president of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (Ireland).