The Irish tourist board, Tourism Ireland, will use 2010 to launch several initiatives designed to increase the numbers of visitors to Ireland.

These new initiatives will focus predominantly on the west coast, which saw a drop in tourism of 12% during 2009; tourism executives are hoping to reverse the downward trend significantly, and will specifically target German and British markets. The programme will emphasise the best that Ireland has to offer tourists; from the excellent Irish car rental facilities, to the beautiful and picturesque countryside.

The programme will be rolled out via a number of television broadcasts showing in Britain in January, highlighting festivals taking place in Galway, and elsewhere, throughout the year.