Mayo North Tourism launches 2022 membership scheme
Mayo North Tourism has today launched its 2022 membership drive, with businesses of all types from Ballina and the surrounding areas encouraged to contribute towards a marketing and promotion fund for north Mayo as the local tourism industry looks towards recovery post-Covid in 2022.
Membership, which goes towards marketing and promotion of the north Mayo and west Sligo area, is open to all types of businesses.
To date, Mayo North Tourism has achieved significant media coverage for the region on national radio, print and TV, popular online sites and overseas publications. It holds regular industry networking events for the tourism and hospitality industry and has built up a strong digital presence, including a comprehensive website outlining north Mayo’s tourism offering and an average monthly reach of over 300,000 on social media.
In 2022, Mayo North Tourism will be rolling out exciting new member-only benefits that will directly benefit member businesses and the area as a whole, including a series of short videos featuring members and a comprehensive national PR plan for north Mayo, where member businesses will be invited to host travel media writers and social media influencers as part of the overall destination promotional effort.
Anne-Marie Flynn, manager of Mayo North Tourism, commented: “Given the significant challenges in the tourism industry in particular over the past 22 months and the ones that lie ahead, it is more important now than ever before that we work together to promote this beautiful area to the rest of the world and challenge to attract visitors here from Ireland and overseas.
“If all businesses contribute just a little to help attract more tourism footfall and spend into the area, the destination as a whole will prosper and everyone will reap the benefits.”
Councillor Michael Loftus, founder member of the Mayo North Destination Steering Group, added: “Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and everyone benefits when visitor numbers grow, especially in rural areas, so we want to ensure all businesses have an opportunity to be included and benefit from the initiative.”
Mayo North Tourism is supported by Mayo County Council at Ballina Municipal District level and Moy Valley Resources IRD, as well as a number of hotels and tourism businesses in the region. Membership is allocated towards marketing and promotional costs and used as match funding to avail of grants. This is then used to create marketing collateral, including destination videos and maps, and to create social media marketing content and PR campaigns.
Rates begin at just €120 per year for smaller businesses, with monthly payment options available, and memberships taken out between now and December 31 remain valid until the end of 2022. Smaller businesses can see a full 2022 plan and pay directly at www.northmayo.ie/become-a-member, while in order to ensure a fair and proportionate membership rate, hotels, restaurants/gastropubs and visitor attractions are invited to contact the Mayo North team directly at (096) 80090 or info@mayonorth.ie.
Membership options and 2022 plans will also be outlined at the upcoming Meet Mayo North networking event, which will be held on Tuesday, February 8, in Great National Hotel Ballina.