“When you’re selling Ireland, every moment makes you proud”

After 21 years with Tourism Ireland, 14 as chief executive, Niall Gibbons is preparing for his next adventure. He talks to Meg Walker about his proudest moments and hopes for the future.

Stepping down from my role as CEO of Tourism Ireland, it’s a very emotional time. I look back with great pride at what’s been achieved. I came into tourism after 9/11 and we’ve weathered many storms, from the global financial crisis to the Covid-19 pandemic. I leave with great hope for the industry. Ireland is a great destination and I leave behind a great team here, who’ll keep the flag flying abroad.

When you’re selling Ireland, every moment makes you proud. One personal highlight was when my wife Marion and I were invited to the State Banquet for Queen Elizabeth II in Dublin Castle when she visited Ireland in 2011. She made an amazing speech and that was a huge turning point in British-Irish relations. And, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, I’m very proud to have been a part of Tourism Ireland’s work to promote the whole island of Ireland, north and south.

We’ve faced many challenges these last two decades. Covid was a huge issue because no one really saw the significance of it in the early days. As a CEO, the capacity to communicate in a crisis is absolutely key. People are keen to hear the leaders inform them of what’s going on. So we listened to our customers, we did a lot of research in the marketplace and we kept the lights on for Ireland abroad. And we made sure that the industry here were connected with international buyers because we knew once things got going again, people would be keen to travel. Our capacity to communicate in a crisis was vital.

Every corner of Ireland is special to me but my parents are from the West of Ireland so I always enjoy a trip down to Mayo – I have a soft spot for Westport. It’s a great town on the Wild Atlantic Way. On the East Coast, I like Brittas

Bay, which is just down the road from me. My four kids (now aged between 18 and 25) spent a lot of time down there when they were young, so we have great memories as a family.

With Tourism Ireland’s new campaign, “Fill Your Heart with Ireland”, we’re moving away from the green button, which was all about getting back to travel last year, and now getting back to the emotion of why choose Ireland over somewhere else. The campaign will feature people like Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters) and Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell from Derry Girls. It went live on St. Patrick’s Day.

Without a doubt, we’ve had three tough years but I think people can now look to 2023 with a degree of confidence. On the demand side, things are looking very positive for Irish tourism this year. Consumers are keen to travel and capacity will be bigger than it was in 2019, so it’ll be easier to get here.

There’s so much to discover, too, with new attractions like Mount Congreve in Waterford, Beyond the Trees in Avondale and the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park. There are further investments and product developments coming down the tracks as well in places like Mayo, Dublin, Galway and Cavan. So there are good things happening, and a lot of investment going into greenways and blueways.

Though I’m stepping down from this role, I’m not retiring. I’ll be staying in the international tourism arena and look forward to watching from a distance the progress that Tourism Ireland will be making, building on the success we’ve seen over the years.