Tourism Ireland has launched the final phase of its latest Star Wars campaign, targeting fans of the science fiction franchise around the world.
In a new film, created to celebrate Ireland’s starring role in The Last Jedi, Star Wars’, Mark Hamill – aka Luke Skywalker – praises Ireland’s beauty.
“To come back to Ireland was a great treat for all of us because the beauty of that country is unmatched. You get up in the morning and see vistas where I was sure it was a special effect,” Mark said.
Audiences everywhere have been transported to the Wild Atlantic Way in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was filmed in some of the most spectacular spots on Ireland’s western coastline, from the northern-most point in Donegal to the magnificent cliffs and headlands of counties Clare, Cork and Kerry.
“The people are so nice. They make you feel like family, they were so welcoming, so accommodating and so friendly. We felt like we were home,” said Mark.
“I mean, having lived in New York for many, many years I wasn’t sure how to take it! “I would urge anyone planning a vacation to go to Ireland. You’ll never find another place like it … I wish we could have shot the entire film there.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Since its release, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been breaking box office records everywhere. Tourism Ireland has been taking every opportunity to capitalise on the publicity around the film – and, in fact, our two previous Star Wars films, released in December, have been collectively viewed by 4 million people so far. Our aim is to help whet peoples’ appetites to come and visit the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland.”
Tourism Ireland’s Star Wars campaign is rolling out in 15 markets – Britain, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordic region, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India and the GCC. Tourism Ireland will share this latest film with its 20,000 international media contacts; and via social media, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This film is the latest element of Tourism Ireland’s campaign, designed to highlight Ireland as a key Star Wars filming location and to promote holidays along the Wild Atlantic Way to millions of Star Wars fans around the world.
The campaign kicked off in December with a fun publicity stunt in which Tourism Ireland launched the first tourism campaign in space, sending a billboard ad 33 kms into the stratosphere. The campaign has also included two other films, which have been collectively viewed by 4 million people: a specially-commissioned look ‘behind-the-scenes’ during filming for The Last Jedi in Ireland in 2015 and 2016, as well as an irreverent promotional film about holidays along the Wild Atlantic Way, also featuring Mark Hamill.
Since 1977, the renowned movie franchise has travelled through many galaxies. Ireland’s Star Wars journey, which began in Portmagee in 2014, has spanned some 2,000 kms of the Wild Atlantic Way – from the south-western Skellig Michael to Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head.
