Membership Benefits
Inclusion in Ireland’s Visitor Attractions Guide
Each year we publish two consumer brochures which are targeted at both the domestic market and the international tourist coming to Ireland. The A5-sized Ireland’s Visitor Attractions Guide includes detailed information on all member-attractions, suggested itineraries, regional introductions, as well as the Heritage Island discount pass offering the user reduced admission charges. 40,000 of these Guides are printed each year and distributed directly to the consumer, at shows, through tour operators, and via tourist offices and retail outlets. The DL-sized Ireland’s Visitor Attractions Guide has a higher print run of 140,000, has a summary and photo of each of our member attractions, and includes a large map as well as the discount pass. Distribution is extensive both domestically and overseas.
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Inclusion in Heritage Island’s Group Organisers Manual
Our Group Organisers Manual is the only publication of its type and is the reference tool for the organiser whether in the travel trade or schools sector who is planning a group tour in Ireland. Each member-attraction gets a half page within the Manual that outlines all the key practical information for the group organiser. The Manual is sent each year to all the main tour operators and event organisers programming Ireland and all primary and post-primary schools on the island.
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Promoting you via our Web Strategy and Emarketing campaigns
Heritage Island operates 2 websites www.heritageisland.com and www.irelandvisitordiscounts.com and for the last 2 years has been short-listed for a Net Visionary Award by the Irish Internet Association in the category of Online Tourism. Our main website www.heritageisland.com is very consumer-oriented with interactive maps and an image gallery. Each member-attraction gets its own microsite and visitor traffic to our websites in the last 12 months has exceeded 300,000. In order to push people to the website we carry out pay per click campaigns, regular ezines, have a constant SEO drive, and take banner ads and reciprocal links with suitable partners. Heritage Island currently has a consumer database of 18,000 subscribers who receive regular ezines which feature events and activities at our member-attractions.
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Inclusion in Heritage Island Booking Engine – BookAnAttraction.com
In summer 2009 Heritage Island created the first ever aggregator ticket booking website for visitor attractions – this allows all member-attractions to be bookable online and opens up a new revenue channel. A new website has been created called www.BookAnAttraction.com and in the last 12 months over €140,000/£125,000 worth of eticket sales have been generated for our member attractions.
Our booking engine is soon to be incorporated into 3rd party partners such as airline, hotel, car hire and Tourism Ireland websites thereby further maximising distribution of eticket sales.
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Inclusion in Heritage Island iPhone App
Did you know that there are 4 mobile phones to every computer worldwide? A person on the move - such as a tourist - is far more likely to have a mobile phone than a computer. The growth of smart phones particularly iPhones allows people via the medium of their mobile phone to access information. In June 2011 Heritage Island launched a unique iPhone App which includes information on all our member-attractions, an image gallery, accurate GPS mapping, and the downloadable Heritage Island Discount Pass. This is the first tourism App of its type highlighting the top things to see and do in Ireland. To see our App: http://bit.ly/IrelandDiscountGuideApp.
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Promoting you at over 20 tourism, travel & lifestyle shows
Each year Heritage Island has promotional stands at over 20 travel, tourism and lifestyle shows both in Ireland and in our key overseas markets such as US, France, UK, Germany and the Nordics. This is an excellent opportunity to meet the public and travel trade face-to-face and to distribute Heritage Island brochures and member-attraction literature. At many shows members themselves can join the Heritage Island stand at no cost thereby saving your company the outlay of registering a stand at the show.
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Inclusion in all Heritage Island Social Media outlets
Heritage Island is very active in the social media area on behalf of member-attractions. This is an important and growing marketing channel and it is imperative that visitor attractions have a presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Heritage Island has a successful Facebook page and Twitter account and these are updated daily so that fans and followers alike are aware of the latest events and activities at our member attractions.
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Seminars, media and familiarisation trips
Heritage Island organises a number of seminars, workshops and familiarisation trips for its member attractions and these will continue in the coming year. They offer members a great opportunity to both learn new skills, stay briefed on tourism developments and network with key industry players. We also regularly organise tour operator and journalist familiarization trips to our member attractions as well as generate media coverage through paid advertising, press releases and readers offers.
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Working with tourism partners on behalf of our member-attractions
Heritage Island works closely with Tourism Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and Failte Ireland and is also a member of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation where we are the voice of the visitor attraction sector. Our dealings with the Incoming Tour Operators Association who bring over 400,000 visitors to Ireland are extensive and as John Healy, director of Abbey Tours, says “Heritage Island is a key partner in helping us to plan itineraries and arrange familiarization trips. Being a Heritage Island member immediately puts you on the radar for any tour operator who is arranging a programme around Ireland”.
