Tourism Ireland backs national team’s Cricket World Cup campaign

The Tourism Ireland agency has signed on as the main sponsor of the country’s national cricket team for its 2015 World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand.

The deal between Tourism Ireland and Cricket Ireland will result in the Ireland.com logo being prominently displayed on the team’s playing shirt and training kit, while the logo will also feature on the website and social media platforms of Cricket Ireland.

Video footage of the island of Ireland, including interviews with some of the players describing their favourite place to holiday – will be shared by Tourism Ireland on its website, Ireland.com, and via its presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Ireland has been drawn alongside the West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan and the UAE during the group stages of the World Cup and gets its campaign underway with a game against the West Indies on February 16.

Ireland’s Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, said: “The sponsorship agreement is timely, as it follows the recent launch of the British-Irish Visa Scheme, under which visitors from many new and developing overseas tourism markets will be able to travel freely around Ireland and the United Kingdom on a single visa.

“India, where cricket is enormously popular, is one of the countries to which this new scheme is being rolled out. I look forward to this sponsorship agreement providing increased awareness of Ireland as a tourism destination around the world.”