Ireland promotes itself as gay marriage destination in new campaign

Sweeping across the green fields of Ireland, rolling waves on the beaches, and ancient barrows to the strum of a jaunty guitar, a new video by Tourism Ireland declares, “Ireland says, I do. All you need is fun, laughter, friends, and the outing — the world’s first LGTB matchmaking festival.”

Indeed, some of the loudest cheering last weekend after Ireland’s referendum on gay marriage passed, came from the Emerald Isle’s tourism businesses, which are licking their chops at the new potential stream of revenue from hosting gay marriages.

And it’s a lucrative stream at that, amounting to $200 billion in international travel in 2014, according to the World Travel Market, with $66.1 billion spent by LGBT Europeans alone. Considering tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and responsible for 4% of GNP, developing a vibrant LGBT market could have a great impact on the country as a whole.

Brian Finnegan, Editor of Gay Community News magazine told the Irish Independent:

"The Yes vote absolutely will have a positive impact on tourism. This sends a message that Ireland is a leader in terms of equality, respect and human dignity. Why shouldn't that attract people to visit?"

The campaign is targeting nine markets where LGBT groups have the most legal rights and cultural acceptance, including Britain, the United States, Canada, the Nordic region, Australia, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Look for the advertisement on Facebook and click through to a specially created section on Ireland.com