Tourism Ireland: Participants in Tourism Ireland's April 25 "Jump Into Ireland" presentation at the Exchange Conference Center on Boston Harbor pose for a photo with Ireland Consul General Michael Lonergan (seated at center). BIR photo by Ed Forry

Don't just come and see the island of Ireland in 2012 but ‘Jump In’. That was the message as Tourism Ireland launched its new brand to a gathering of Boston travel trade partners and industry media at Boston Exchange Conference Center on Wednesday evening. ‘Jump into Ireland’ describes the joyful immersion of a trip to Ireland. That sense of uplifting joy as you take part in our diverse iconic experiences and engage with our welcoming people. This theme will dominate Tourism Ireland’s advertising, consumer and trade promotional activities, co-operative campaigns and media outreach in 2012, and also be a focus for extensive social media campaigns to drive awareness of the unique nature of a vacation to the island of Ireland.

Attendees at Boston Exchange Conference Center on the Boston Fish Pier were audience to an evening of Irish music and theatre as a group of actors engaged with tourism providers on a mythical journey around the island of Ireland. Launching the new ‘Jump into Ireland’ brand, Tourism Ireland’s Vice President of Marketing Alison Metcalfe said, “We are delighted to be here in Boston profiling everything that is good about a trip to Ireland. From our sunny South East Coast, to Northern Ireland, to the historic city of Dublin, there is a raft of wonderful things to see and do and we would encourage US vacationers to include Ireland on their calendar for 2012

"Our trade partners also carry with them an important message this evening about the unique nature of a trip to Ireland and particularly about the great value that is on offer in 2012. The welcome for our US friends has never been warmer and with direct flights to Belfast, Dublin and Shannon, it has never been easier to make the trip.”

This year sees a raft of special events and anniversaries that will further entice the vacationer. The recent St Patrick’s week celebrations kicked off a wonderful year of cultural festivals throughout the country such as the Galway Arts festival, The Wexford Opera festival, The Dublin Theatre Festival and the Cork Jazz festival. 2012 is also a year when Northern Ireland will take center stage with a series of spectacular occasions. Titanic Belfast, the largest Titanic visitor experience in the world, opened its doors this month. The new visitors centre at the UNESCO world heritage site at the Giant’s Causeway will open in the fall and the European Tour’s Irish Open golf tournament will return to Royal Portrush. These events and many more come under the banner ‘Northern Ireland 2012 –Your time, our place’.

The participating trade representatives include: Michelle Maguire, Ireland’s Blue Book, Garreth Cooke, Emerald Elite Group / Emerald Custom Tours, Fiona Herald, Guinness Storehouse, David McCoy, House of Waterford Crystal, Pam Shaw, Globus Family of Brands, Jason Powell, Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism, Suzanne Meade, Edward Hotels and Jim Deegan, Railtours Ireland – First Class