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Ireland promo in Spanish cities

Millions of Spaniards are seeing eye-catching ads for Dublin and Belfast in metro stations in Madrid and Barcelona right now. Tourism Ireland’s latest promotion, in partnershi

ATRAPALO CO OP METRO AD DUBLIN

p with Atrapalo, a major online travel agent in Spain, is under way.

The campaign aims to boost late season travel from Spain to the island of Ireland and to kick-start business for 2018. As well as the metro ads, the campaign includes

- online ads on websites like El País, Huffington Post Espana, Ocholeguas and El Mundo;

- email marketing to the Atrapalo database of 1 million Spanish travellers;

- a dedicated microsite and Ireland booking engine on Atrapalo.com;

- Ireland article in Atrapalo’s Houdinis magazine, which has about 80,000 readers; and

- extensive social media activity, via the Atrapalo Facebook and Twitter channels (about 428,500 followers).

Aer Lingus plans Seattle Route

Aer Lingus is launching a direct route to Seattle from Dublin next year.

It's the fifteenth route to North America operated by Aer Lingus, which is part of the IAG airline group that also includes British Airways, Iberia and Vueling.

Seattle - nicknamed the Emerald City - has been a likely destination for Aer Lingus given the strong business links between the northwest coast city and Ireland.

Amazon is headquartered in Seattle and Microsoft has its headquarters just outside the city. Microsoft has its European base in Ireland, while Amazon has a significant presence here.

Seattle is also home to Starbucks and massive manufacturing facilities of aircraft maker Boeing, which is now headquartered in Chicago.

Hotel Plan Rejected

An Bord Pleanála has overturned a decision to grant planning permission for a new hotel on the site of a Dublin nightclub.

The planning appeals authority has reversed a decision by Dublin City Council to approve the demolition of two buildings on Lower Mount St — which housed the Howl at the Moon nightclub — to make way for a 53-bedroom boutique hotel.

Belfast Inn refurbished

Jurys Inn Belfast has announced the completion of a £2 million refurbishment of its city centre hotel. The property, located in the heart of the city on Great Victoria Street, has undergone a complete transformation of its 190 bedrooms, lobby, and bar and restaurant facilities as part of the investment.

The décor in the newly refurbished hotel showcases contemporary furnishings sourced locally from suppliers including Balmoral Furniture and Ulster Carpets. The walls of Jurys Inn Belfast also feature new artwork from Northern Irish gallery, Spires Art, presenting guests with pictures of local landmarks including the Harland & Wolff cranes, Belfast City Hall and Queen’s University.

Three City Blitz

Tourism Ireland, together with a delegation of 18 tourism enterprises, is undertaking a three-city trade and media blitz to the United States this week.

usblitz

The group is pictured with Alison Metcalfe (front, second left), Kevin Loftus (back, third left), Hillarie McGuinness (back, fourth left) and Ruth Moran (back, sixth right), all Tourism Ireland.

The ‘Jump into Ireland’ (JITI) sales blitz will see 12 companies from the island of Ireland and six American tour operators meet with influential travel agents in the key cities of Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. Each event also includes an opportunity for networking with influential travel and lifestyle journalists.