The island of Ireland is on track in Toronto!

Millions of commuters in Toronto are seeing eye-catching ads for the island of Ireland on commuter trains operating in the city right now. It’s all part of Tourism Ireland’s latest promotion in Canada, in partnership with Air Transat, to highlight the island of Ireland to Canadian travellers. 

The campaign, which runs until mid-August, will reach an estimated 4.6 million Canadians – or potential holidaymakers for the island of Ireland. It includes:

• poster ads on GO (commuter) trains operating in Toronto, with an eye-catching image of the spectacular Giant’s Causeway;
• a promotion on BOOM radio in Toronto, with a chance for listeners to win a trip to Dublin; 
• social media promotions, including ads on Facebook; and
• Ireland ads on the Air Transat website.

Canada is one of Ireland’s top ten tourism markets and 2016 was the best year ever for Irish tourism from Canada, when we welcomed 203,000 Canadian visitors, up +11% on 2015. In fact, visitor numbers from Canada have grown by +28% since 2014, correlating directly with the breakthrough in direct air access services to Ireland.

Working closely with airlines and airports to build demand for flights is a key priority for Tourism Ireland. 

Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Canada, said: “We’re really pleased to work with Air Transat, to highlight ease of access from Toronto to the island of Ireland and to help grow Canadian visitor numbers. As an island, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated – they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism. And, the good news is that getting to Ireland from Canada has never been easier. This summer, there are approximately 8,000 seats on 33 services per week between Canada and Ireland – that’s +26% more than last year.

“Tourism Ireland is rolling out an extensive programme of promotional activity in Canada throughout 2017. We are working closely with our tourism partners – including Air Transat – to build on the growth of the past few years.”

Canadian visitors tend to stay longer and explore more extensively around the island than the average visitor, sampling our unique holiday experiences.