05 Feb 2025
Tourism NI helps businesses boost their online presence
Tourism Northern Ireland today hosted a Maximising Marketing Channels workshop to help tourism and hospitality businesses improve their online social presence.
The session, at the Crowne Plaza Belfast, was specifically aimed at businesses in the industry who are keen to explore how best to reach their key audiences.
The businesses were welcomed to the workshop by Carolyn Boyd, Industry Development Manager at Tourism Northern Ireland, before Julie O'Brien, from Runda- Hospitality and Tourism Solutions, gave those gathered an overview of the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland tourism market.
Attendees were also given an introduction to Tourism Northern Ireland’s new e-learning platform, MyTourismNI.
Specially developed to support the Northern Ireland tourism industry build expertise, knowledge, competence and confidence, the innovative platform is free to access with a range of learning modules available to explore including Sales and Marketing, Digital, Sustainability, and People and Operational Effectiveness.
The businesses also heard from Naomi Waite, Director of Marketing at Tourism Northern Ireland, who spoke about the organisation’s latest marketing campaign and how best to maximise marketing opportunities with Tourism Northern Ireland.
Naomi also explored how businesses can ensure they are reaching the right target audiences and gave an overview of Tourism Northern Ireland’s content channels.
Later, Emma Burdett, a digital marketing expert from Digital Culture, facilitated a workshop which explored how to master and maximise opportunities from each of the key social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.
Emma, who’s key roles in the tourism sector have included Web & Digital Marketing Manager at Visit Belfast and Digital Marketing Manager for Hastings Hotels, Northern Ireland, also shared advice and top tips for digital marketing.
Following the session, the businesses took part in a networking session during which they engaged with industry peers and expert speakers.
Speaking following the event, Naomi Waite, Director of Marketing at Tourism Northern Ireland NI, said: “Tourism Northern Ireland is committing to providing businesses with as much strategic support as possible to help them grow and thrive in 2025.
“Our industry is key to the success of the sector in the region but with so much competition from other destinations all vying for the same visitor spend, it is essential that our businesses are equipped with the right tools to set themselves apart.
“Sessions such as today’s marketing workshop are critical as they help build industry capability and confidence in what is an extremely competitive marketplace.”