Munster were not the only winners of last Saturday's Heineken rugby European Cup Final in Cardiff, as the historic victory is also set to yield a tourism dividend for the Shannon Region thanks to a tourism campaign undertaken by Shannon Development and Tourism Ireland UK.

John Brassil, chairman, Shannon Development, with the Heineken European Cup.

With all eyes on Cardiff last weekend the tourism agencies used the occasion to get a strong 'Limerick' tourism message out to UK and French fans attending the showcase event. The campaign involved the distribution of a specially designed colour postcard outside the Millennium Stadium in the build-up to the game and in the pubs and clubs in Cardiff during and after the game.

The postcard also highlighted the links between Limerick City and Munster rugby and promoted the range of access options from the UK to the Region through Shannon International Airport. Shannon Development and Tourism Ireland UK, between them, produced 40,000 special postcards telling potential tourists about Limerick City and the region.

The postcard also contained a competition offering a holiday in Limerick City including match tickets to see Munster versus the All Blacks.

"The event gave us a great opportunity to showcase Limerick City as the tourism gateway to the Shannon region. The aim of the campaign was to get a clear message to potential French and UK tourist that the Shannon region is a premier holiday destinations. This campaign combined with an ad campaign being undertaking in Cardiff's largest daily newspaper will reach a potential audience of 500,000," said John Brassil, Chairman, Shannon Development.

England is Ireland's largest tourism generating market accounting for 57% of total visits to Ireland in '06 (latest available stats) and has also accounted for 14% of total visits to the Shannon region in 2006, almost 700,000 visitors in total.

This latest campaign is part of Shannon Development's overall UK tourism marketing efforts, and the company is confident that it will yield tourism dividends.

"Shannon Development was delighted to play its part in bringing the game, through the big screen in O' Connell Street, Limerick to a host of fans. Congratulations are due to all those who helped make Limerick ready for this event and the homecoming celebrations. There is an army of unsung heroes out there, including Shannon Development staff, who gave up their free time and went to valiant efforts to ensure that the city looked its best and they deserve our highest praise," Mr Brassil said.

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