Understanding the NI Domestic Market

The Domestic Market – Key to Tourism Recovery

A note from the Domestic Tourism Strategy Steering Group Chairperson, Ciaran O’Neill.

As a consequence of the Covid 19 pandemic the world we live in has and is undergoing a period of profound change. More than any sector tourism has been severely impacted. However, as we move out of crisis and begin to understand what the ‘new norm’ will look like we must now begin to chart the road to recovery for the tourism industry throughout Northern Ireland.
The domestic market will be key to the sectors recovery.

For practical reasons the NI consumer will be likely highly unlikely to travel overseas for holidays in the near term. Not only will there be travel restrictions but many consumers will not want to travel abroad. Recent research shows that taking a holiday on the island of Ireland represents a much comfortable proposition than going abroad. Additionally, while the pandemic has damaged consumer confidence, the enforced lock down has also limited their spending and created a latent desire and pent up demand to take short breaks and holidays. This is a demand that the domestic market is best positioned to meet.

Prior to Covid 19 a Domestic Tourism Strategy was developed, with a plan to launch the strategy in quarter one 2020. For obvious reasons this launch and the implementation of strategy was delayed. 

Although things have changed the essence of the domestic consumer in terms of needs, motivations and values remains the same. Furthermore, the means to unlock and extract value from the domestic market, outlined in the strategy holds true. We believe that this strategy offers a key platform from which the sector can make decisions and actions that will accelerate sector recovery across Northern Ireland.

NI Domestic Market Review Webinar

This webinar, led by Conor Kavanagh from business advisory firm Genesis, covered all aspects of the NI Domestic Market Review strategy and unpack the research in a meaningful way.

NI Domestic Market Workshop

This session, facilitated by Sharon Scott from Place Solutions, aimed at helping you now use this research to shape your new tourism experiences, segmentation plans, pricing models and marketing channel management.

Priority Segments

Aspiring Families, Natural Quality Seekers and Social Instagrammers have been identified as priority segments in the NI Domestic Tourism Strategy along with Natural Quality Seekers and Social Instagrammers. These three segments combined represent 60 percent of the market and rank the highest in terms of estimated spend. You can find out more about each of these segments from the short videos below.