Friday, 08 August 2025
Tourism Ireland has launched a €2.44 million campaign aimed at attracting environmentally conscious travellers seeking slower, more immersive holidays. The campaign, titled ‘Ireland Unrushed’, focuses on promoting sustainable tourism experiences across the island and encourages visitors to explore without relying heavily on car travel.
According to Tourism Ireland, around 50% of visitors to Ireland do not hire a car, making them well-suited for ‘sustainability messaging.’ The campaign is designed to appeal to a group described as ‘enrichment explorers’, or tourists more interested in meaningful experiences than in low-cost travel options.
Beyond environmental goals, slow and sustainable tourism also supports rural and regional communities. Longer visitor stays mean more local spending in accommodations, restaurants, and small businesses. By encouraging travel beyond major cities, the campaign helps redistribute economic benefits more evenly and reduces pressure on crowded urban hubs.
Of the total €2.44 million spent:
€2.14 million was allocated to paid advertising in 13 countries, including many across Europe and North America.
€169,000 went toward video production and content preparation for local markets.
€126,000 was used for ‘in-market activations’, supporting campaign efforts directly in the target countries.
Originally, Tourism Ireland planned to spend just €1 million, but strong creative testing and positive feedback from tourism partners led to the decision to more than double the budget.
The campaign promotes sustainable transport options like rail and bus travel, along with activities such as walking and hiking. It highlights several Irish destinations and experiences, including:
The Causeway Coast
The Westport to Achill Greenway
Coastal villages around Dublin and Belfast
Culinary experiences in Cork
The campaign brief noted that 50% of visitors are willing to pay more for sustainable accommodation and experiences, and 58% want to learn about the country’s environmental practices and sustainable tourism options.
Tourism Ireland’s creative brief emphasized the need to portray Ireland as a destination with ‘a wealth of sustainable transport and tourism experiences.’ The campaign aims to encourage visitors to stay longer in regional areas and explore through low-impact means.
It also includes plans to collaborate with influencer partners to create and share content, leveraging their reach to amplify the campaign’s message.
According to early data, the campaign has already:
Reached 121 million people
Generated over 3.3 million social media shares
Achieved a ‘persuasion score’ above 90%, indicating strong potential to influence travel decisions
A Tourism Ireland spokesperson said the campaign is part of a broader effort to reshape how people think about holidays in Ireland, focusing on immersive and sustainable travel.
While Ireland’s ‘Ireland Unrushed’ campaign marks a significant step towards promoting low-impact, car-free travel, several practical and systemic challenges still stand in the way of fully realising a truly sustainable tourism model.
A core message of the campaign is to encourage visitors to avoid car hire and instead use public transport. However, many rural and scenic areas, particularly those featured in the campaign, remain poorly served by public transportation. Limited frequency of buses or trains, especially at weekends or outside peak seasons, makes it difficult for visitors to rely on these services for flexible, immersive travel.
This creates a gap between the campaign’s messaging and the infrastructure available on the ground, particularly in areas such as the Wild Atlantic Way, the Westport to Achill Greenway, or smaller coastal towns.
The campaign highlights sustainable accommodation, yet the availability of certified environmentally friendly lodging in Ireland is still limited. Many visitors who prioritise sustainability may struggle to find hotels, guesthouses, or B&Bs that are demonstrably aligned with environmental standards, especially outside of urban centres.
This presents both a logistical issue and a communications challenge. Without a widespread network of green-certified options, Ireland may struggle to meet the expectations created by its promotional messaging.
As sustainability becomes a widely used term in global tourism marketing, there is an increasing risk of ‘greenwashing’, where services are presented as environmentally responsible without delivering measurable benefits. For instance, branding a destination as ‘authentic’ or ‘slow’ does not necessarily make it sustainable.
To retain credibility, Ireland must ensure that sustainability claims are supported by data, recognised certifications, or verifiable environmental practices, particularly when collaborating with influencers or tourism operators.
While tourism provides valuable economic benefits, increased visitor numbers can place pressure on sensitive environments. Fragile ecosystems, including coastal cliffs, peatlands, and remote heritage sites, may be vulnerable to degradation.
Ireland will need to balance growth in visitor numbers with responsible management. This could include introducing seasonal restrictions, limiting visitor access in certain areas, or exploring the use of conservation levies.
Not all tourism businesses are equally prepared to adopt sustainable practices. Smaller enterprises may lack the financial resources or expertise to implement changes such as reducing energy consumption, transitioning to renewable energy sources, or offering low-impact experiences.
To ensure industry-wide progress, Tourism Ireland and its partners will need to provide targeted support, such as sustainability training, grant funding, and capacity-building programmes. These efforts will be particularly important in rural and coastal areas where small, seasonal businesses dominate the tourism landscape.
‘Ireland Unrushed’ may mark a shift in Tourism Ireland’s longer-term strategy. As climate regulations tighten and consumer behaviour evolves, sustainability is likely to become central to how Ireland develops its tourism infrastructure, visitor experience, and international branding. Measuring the campaign’s impact could inform future policy and investment decisions.
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