ONCE USED BY The Irish Times, the domain name ‘Ireland.com’ has been taken over by Tourism Ireland.

Given that it’s an easy address to recognise and remember, Tourism Ireland is hoping that it will make Ireland a stand-out destination in the minds of tourists all around the world and that it will benefit the Irish tourism industry.

The move is part of a re-development of Tourism Ireland’s websites and social media that they hope will capitalise on the importance of the internet for people travelling or planning a holiday. According to the 2011 Visitor Attitude Survey, 73% of overseas holidaymakers said the internet was an important tool  for them when planning their holiday here.

Tourism Ireland’s new website will be unveiled at the end of the year and will roll out across top tourism markets from 1 January 2013. The site will support 11 different languages and over 30 individual markets. Tourism Ireland sites attracted almost 12 million unique visitors from overseas in 2011.

Commenting on the URL takeover, Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said:

The domain name Ireland.com is a natural fit for the work we do to promote the island of Ireland overseas and we are very pleased to be acquiring it from The Irish Times. Tourism Ireland’s Facebook audience is the third largest in the world for tourism bodies (after Australia and Spain) and our new site and new URL will help us to harness the phenomenal growth in social media and to project an even stronger online presence to attract more visitors here.

Do you think the ‘Ireland.com’ address will help boost Irish tourism?

Read: 23 stunning photos of an ideal Ireland >

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