Dublin named third best visited city in the world

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD and Tourism Ireland has welcomed the news that Dublin has been named the third best city in the world to visit in 2016 by Lonely Planet. The leading travel media company has unveiled the accolade in the prestigious Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 – its collection of the world’s hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the coming year.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe said: “Having Dublin listed as Lonely Planet’s third best city in the world for 2016 is fantastic news and will propel Dublin even further by encouraging a greater number of visitors to pay us a visit. This month, I launched a new brand identity for Dublin, aimed at encouraging people to discover this mature, modern and vibrant city that is also so close to nature and the outdoors. I am delighted that this image is being reflected in Lonely Planet’s depiction of Dublin. I visited the company recently while on Government business in Nashville and was very impressed with what I saw. Great news for Dublin, and beyond, that feeling is reciprocated.”

Welcoming the news, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “The inclusion of Dublin at number three in the world in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 is wonderful news and will surely help to inspire travellers everywhere to put Dublin and the island of Ireland on their holiday wish-list for 2016. It is another well-deserved accolade for Dublin, which provides Tourism Ireland with a great hook to continue to promote the city and Ireland around the world as ‘must visit’ destinations.”

Tourism Ireland will take every opportunity to maximise this latest accolade for Dublin over the coming weeks – spreading the word in its promotions around the world. Activity will include:

·a specially created page on its international website, Ireland.com which has attracted more than 16 million visitors so far this year;

·an advert in the November edition of the newly-launched Lonely Planet magazine, as well as online advertising with Lonely Planet, in the United States;

·extensive social activity, with posts on Facebook (Tourism Ireland has 3+ million fans worldwide) and on Twitter (300,000+ followers);

·a major PR and publicity push to Tourism Ireland’s 20,000 international media contacts and highlighting the accolade at major travel fairs like the upcoming World Travel Market in London, the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar.

In addition, Tourism Ireland will invite three Lonely Planet bloggers and vloggers to visit Dublin over the coming weeks. Their itinerary will include an ‘Instawalk’ with a Lonely Planet author – when they will check out some of the Dublin highlights mentioned in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016, documenting their experience online and sharing it with their followers. Those Dublin highlights include KilmainhamGaol, the Little Museum of Dublin, Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the Ha’penny Bridge and the Molly Malone statue.

Describing Dublin, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 says: “Dublin is now a truly cosmopolitan capital, with an influx of people, energy and ideas infusing the ever-beguiling, multi-layered city with fresh flavours and kaleidoscopic colours”. It goes on to say that “the place pulsates with youthful vibrancy, optimism and creativity”.V