Tourism Ireland joined forces with Saks Fifth Avenue flagship locations in New York and Beverly Hills to showcase the majesty of Irish landmarks in a project that included window installations, in-store displays, and a double-page spread Ireland infographic in the Saks Fifth Avenue fall fashion book. Iconic images of Dublin, Northern Ireland, the Wild Atlantic Way, Ancient East and the country’s world-class golf courses were highlighted. The project, which ran from September 21 into early October, also featured a chance for customers enrolled in the SaksFirst points system to win a luxury trip to Ireland.
Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America, said that “working with such an iconic U.S. brand will help us raise awareness for some of the many experiences to be enjoyed around the island of Ireland, inspiring American travellers to put a trip to Ireland on their ‘must do’ list.” She explained that Tourism Ireland has targeted North America as its number one priority for 2017 due to the market’s strong return on investment with regards holiday visitors and expenditure, adding that “Visitor numbers from North America for the first seven months of 2017 are strong, up 17.4 percent on the same period last year.” ♦
In early March, 1964, I spent a few days at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, where a huge clothing store had a display window that showed several mannequins dressed in green. Sadly that base no longer exists because it was covered with volcanic ash several years ago.