Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 455: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made in relation to the Programme for Government proposal to provide extra funding to market language tourism to the Gaeltacht for foreign visitors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28680/08]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 16 of 15 Bealtaine 2008.

Údarás na Gaeltachta works in close co-operation with Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, which are responsible for actively marketing and promoting Ireland to overseas visitors.

In 2007/8, marketing initiatives were put in place with a focus on marketing the Gaeltacht as a place in which to learn Irish and hear the language spoken, and as a tourism destination of outstanding merit. These initiatives have been rolled out over the past year with an emphasis on e-marketing as well as traditional multi-media publicity campaigns.

Examples of initiatives to date include:

the Ireland North West Marketing Campaign using TV, radio, internet and brochures;

Ireland West's Connemara Marketing Strategy;

marketing at trade shows in the United States, the UK and Europe;

the updating and revision of the Gaeltacht element of all Discover Ireland web information to include specific information on all Gaeltacht regions; and

a targeted campaign using European tour operators, which was launched in Paris in April 2008 with a focus on the Belgian, French, Italian and German markets and involved specific market segments focused on the Gaeltacht and the Islands.

I can assure the Deputy that strong working partnerships exist between Údarás na Gaeltachta and Fáilte Ireland, in particular through their regional offices and other tourism organisations, with a view to optimising the opportunities the tourism industry provides for the Gaeltacht.