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While a handful of Middle East holidaymakers have ventured to Ireland, the actual numbers are negligible, according to Tourism Ireland.

One year after Irish national carrier Aer Lingus opened up Ireland to the UAE, the destination is yet to prove popular with Arab holidaymakers, but the mixed appeal of the country's beautiful countryside, world-class golf courses, and the famous Irish hospitality are sure to charm Arab visitors by the end of 2007.

National tourism board Tourism Ireland has stepped up its efforts to promote the destination to the travel trade in recent months ahead of the imminent launch of a direct service from Abu Dhabi to Dublin courtesy of UAE national carrier Etihad Airways.

Tourism Ireland's man in Dubai, Leo Fewtrell is convinced the country has plenty to offer Arabic visitors: "Ireland will appeal because of its universal greenery, which is a balm to the eye used to the brown of the desert," he explains.

"USP's in Ireland can simply be defined as the people, who are friendly and hospitable - similar to the Arabs themselves; the place, which is unimaginably beautiful wherever you go, and the culture, which is one of the oldest and best preserved in Europe."

Fewtrell says the shortage of direct flights from the Middle East to Dublin to date has prevented Ireland becoming a popular destination. In addition, there was little awareness about the country before Tourism Ireland introduced part-time representation in Dubai ahead of Aer Lingus' entry into the market last year.

"The same can be said of many other destinations such as Australia and New Zealand," he says.

"Prior to Emirates starting direct flights [to Australia] there was little interest in travelling to that region from here. In July, Etihad will commence direct flights four times per week and Tourism Ireland will start full-time representation in this area to ensure much more knowledge is made available to consumers and the trade."

Etihad will provide an additional 800 seats per week from the UAE to Dublin when it launches its service on July 2.

Tourism Ireland plans to invest more in advertising and awareness campaigns as well as agent training to make the destination "more visible" than before, Fewtrell adds.

Aer Lingus and Tourism Ireland have already conducted fam trips for travel agents, who were amazed at the hospitality of the people and refreshed by the non-polluted air and cool rains, but the tourism board says visitors numbers from this part of the world are still negligible.

To make matters worse, Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air is set to scrap its thrice weekly Dublin service, along with five other long haul destinations that the company claims are losing it money.

Aer Lingus' manager GCC, Ibrahim Menhem says that the carrier's load factors are around 80 to 85%, the majority of which is made up of VFR traffic.

"[But] some new visitors are coming on holiday packages with our travel partners like Dnata Holidays," he explains.

"This summer we plan to increase our market share buy pushing our connections to other cities throughout the UK."

Two-pronged attack

The combined promotional efforts of Tourism Ireland and Etihad Holidays running up to the Abu Dhabi-Ireland launch this summer are unlikely to go unnoticedby the trade or consumers.

Ireland features prominently in Etihad Holidays' new summer 2007 brochure, with four pages dedicated to the destination. Nine hotels and one golf resort are featured.

The destination was one of the main focuses of the operator's brochure launch road show, which toured the UAE in April.

Hundreds of agents were introduced to Ireland through a series of presentations and prize giveaways, a sure fire way to grab the attention of any agent, according to Etihad Holidays' general manager Nick Wood.

"Over the summer months there will be a lot of traffic to and from Dublin, with the UAE-based customers eager to sample the many delights of Ireland," he says.

"Dublin is only seven hours from Abu Dhabi and offers a wealth of short break activities both in the city and in the countryside. We also anticipate a great deal of traffic from Australia with Etihad providing the fastest link between Sydney and Dublin."

The carrier will operate a three cabin Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route, configured to carry 200 passengers, with 10 in Diamond Zone, 26 in Pearl Zone and 164 in Coral Zone.

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