Irish Tourist Board seeks marketing director

The Irish Tourist Board (ITB) is looking for a new director of international marketing following the appointment last week of director general John Dully.

The new marketing director will replace former international marketing director and GrandMet executive Noel Toolan who resigned over a year ago following a clash with the Irish Minister for Tourism Jim McDaid over a new logo. According to the Irish Times, McDaid ordered the new logo be dropped because the Irish shamrock was not featured prominently enough.

Since Toolan’s resignation, Chris Kane has been acting marketing coordinator. He will return to his role as communications director.

The new director-general Dully, a former assistant secretary in the Department of Tourism in Ireland, joins the board at a time of transition for tourism in Ireland. Sources say that the ITB – which spends 15m globally on advertising – could soon be replaced by an all-island, North and South tourist body as a result of the Good Friday agreement.

A spokesman for the ITB says: “Marketing for Ireland will have a much clearer message in the future which we hope will translate into higher revenues.”

The ITB uses BMP DDB London in partnership with Peter Owen in Dublin for its creative work and spends some 3.1m through JWT London in the UK, its main tourist market.

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