Also on 18 June Tourism Ireland reported the completion of a week-long press trip that brought seven high-profile German journalists to Ireland’s south-west to sample ‘nature and wellness’ experiences. The visiting writers, whose outlets reach a combined 4.6 million readers, kayaked Kinsale Harbour, tried seaweed baths in Sneem and practised forest-bathing in Glengarriff before touring iconic heritage sites such as the Rock of Cashel. For individual travellers keen to follow in their footsteps, VisaHQ can streamline the practicalities: its Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) lets visitors instantly check visa requirements, apply online and receive expert support on passports and other documents, ensuring the focus stays on hikes, spas and sea air rather than paperwork. Wellness travel is one of the fastest-growing segments in continental Europe, worth an estimated €156 billion a year. For Ireland the niche dovetails neatly with post-pandemic demand for outdoor, sustainable, small-group itineraries—segments that bring high-spend visitors outside peak urban hotspots. The journalists’ content will run in titles ranging from lifestyle magazine Emotion to national daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, timed to influence autumn booking cycles. From a mobility perspective the campaign supports regional air routes that many multinational companies rely on for staff rotations: Lufthansa’s Munich–Cork service and Eurowings’ Düsseldorf–Dublin flights both depend in part on leisure load factors. The trip also showcased small wellness operators that often host corporate off-sites and executive retreats, feeding into the meetings market highlighted by the Frankfurt-Cologne showcase. Tourism Ireland’s continental marketing director Nadine Lehmann said the agency will replicate the wellness-focussed itinerary for Scandinavian and Benelux media later this year, aiming to position Ireland as “Europe’s green lung” for stressed city-dwellers. The initiative aligns with Fáilte Ireland’s push to add 20 % more ‘sustainability-accredited’ tourism businesses by 2028.
