Beacon and Mizen's bridge get pride of place in new ad

BALTIMORE’S Beacon and the new Mizen Bridge are among the highlights of a new Wild Atlantic Way trailer that is being shown in Irish cinemas this week before the biggest film of the season – Star Wars.

Viewers are left with a stunning shot of the iconic Beacon overlooking the Atlantic, as the dramatic 60-second ad comes to a close.

The cinema ads will take place before each Star Wars showing and are intended to encourage Irish Star Wars fans to explore one of the film’s big stars, Skellig Michael, and much more. 

According to Fáilte Ireland’s latest report on visitor attitudes, 7% of visitors were influenced by films to choose Ireland as a destination, indicating that as many as 200,000 people might be encouraged to visit the Wild Atlantic Way after seeing a promotional video.

The new campaign, which aims to encourage potential holidaymakers to consider the Wild Atlantic Way for their next break, capitalises on the fact that the idyllic and magical Skellig Michael features in the latest Star Wars film. 

The campaign will be broadcast in cinemas across the country as well as featuring on national radio. Significant online promotion will also take place.

Skellig Michael is the larger of two islands in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the Iveragh peninsula. A Christian monastery was established on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th centuries and was continuously occupied until the late 12th century. The remains of the monastery and most of the island was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

The recently renovated impressive Mizen Bridge at the Mizen Head Visitor Centre also gets pride of place in the new trailer, which can be viewed on YouTube by searching under ‘Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way’.