Building Destination Through Collaboration

1. Collaborate to Clarify Northern Ireland’s Unique Identity

Northern Ireland has six counties offering multiple compelling reasons to visit as will be clear to members of the tourism industry and local people living here. However, when encouraging customers to engage and book the destination, the tourism business must put itself in the shoes of the customer by asking the following questions:

• Does the customer understand what my destination is about?
• Does the customer understand what differentiates my destination from others?

The first rule in selling tourism destinations is that clarity= conversion. By this it is meant that if the destination offering is unclear or ambiguous the customer is unlikely to book.

Northern Ireland is different from any other destination in the world and this unique identity is important for creating clarity. Therefore, the first step in distinguishing and defining Northern Ireland from other destinations is for all tourism businesses across Northern Ireland to unite in using the destination experience brand Embrace a Giant Spirit.

This is the umbrella under which your tourism business stands. This is the brand that clarifies Northern Ireland’s destination offering and story. This is the brand that ensures Northern Ireland stands out with a clear statement to customers across the island of Ireland and throughout the world about Northern Ireland’s identity as a tourism destination:

Step one in building awareness for your destination therefore means that all tourism businesses within your destination must reinforce the clarity for Northern Ireland as a tourism destination by a) living up to this experience brand promise and b) displaying the brand on all business offline and online communications.