BORN in Chile, reared in Tanzania, Zambia and Sweden and now residing in Ruan, Co Clare with her husband and two teenage children, Barbara Marin loves Ireland and all it has to offer.
So much so that she has created a digital magazine, aptly named Travel Routes Ireland, especially for accommodation providers to enable them to showcase all that is wonderful about their county to prospective customers before they arrive at their selected holiday destination.
What started out as a pre-COVID-19 offer has now taken on a whole new life given the emphasis on staycations this year. Originally detailing Co Clare in a 42-page digital magazine, Marin’s focus is now on creating digital magazines for neighbouring counties before releasing nationwide; a digital publication for Limerick is at the final pre-launch editing stage and linkages are already being established in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Cork and Tipperary to produce bespoke versions for these counties.
As Marin explains: “My career has taken me on many different trajectories, from working in print media as editor-in-chief and executive editor of a monthly women’s fashion magazine in Sweden to creating an online parenting website and more latterly as global product manager for Loyaltybuild where I was responsible for the B2B relationship with hotels in Ireland and across Europe for the SuperValu getaway breaks.
“Given that this work required tourist market knowledge, hotel contact and booking stats, and also pre-empting the changes in the market, the limitations and possibilities for hotels and SuperValu customers, and that I had a background in publishing, it was a natural next step for me to set up my own business, Bright Days Media, with a tourism-related deliverable in the form a digital magazine.” she said.
Living in Co Clare on a small farm with a family immersed in traditional music and simply loving all things Irish, it was a natural progression for Marin to design and develop a digital magazine to promote all there is to see and do in every corner of Ireland.
Naturally, as an embryonic company, supported by the LEADER via the Clare Local Development Company, what better way to start that with her county of residence.
“The digital magazine is aptly named, Travel Routes Ireland, as that’s its focus, to show people what there is to see and do in the county they choose to stay in and travel around during their staycation.
“We have a great mix of people, mainly freelance specialists, working on the product with backgrounds in tourism and customer loyalty in Ireland and across Europe as well as having extensive magazine editorial expertise and experience.
“All of this has enabled us to produce a very useful tool for hospitality companies within the Irish tourism industry. Travel Routes enables them to showcase their businesses and the locality around them, enhancing the experience of their customers.
“We supply the digital magazine to companies who can, in turn, brand it for their bespoke customers. All of this means that once they get a booking, they can give the customer the magazine, who can in turn plan their visit to the county before they leave home. When they see how much there is to see and do in a county, it’s inevitable that the staycationer will choose to stay local.
“For example, our Clare edition covers the entire county, north, south, east, and west, exploring coastal and rural routes, outdoor and nature trails, and most importantly, the range of food to eat.
“While we had planned to cover festivals, this is not possible in the current environment but the beauty about a digital format is that it can be adjusted easily and segmented to the customer’s needs. It’s ideal for any hospitality provider who wishes to target a specific type of visitor; we can streamline the content to suit that market.
“We have received very favourable feedback on our magazine as it has created added value for the tourism provider. They can reach their customer in the dreaming stage, before they book, creating the possibility of extended stays and showcasing the benefits of their business and region and all during the time when visitors are planning their stays.” she added.
John Burke, managing director of the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point, Co Clare speaks highly of the new product: “It’s been great working with Bright Days Media and Barbara. We have been working together for some time now, but the publication has never been a more valuable resource to have to hand than right now; a visit to the Armada has to be more than just the hotel, we are a West Clare experience, and getting that message across isn’t always that easy, but the publication produced makes it light, fun, and interesting, while getting so many great ideas across for things to experience.
“Not only is it building anticipation for the guests before they arrive here, but it’s helping to support so many other tourism operators in the region in the process also. It helps to support so many key objectives of the business and a great resource overall.” he said.
While featuring the main visitor attractions in an area, the smaller tourism providers and tourist options are also featured, which gives them the chance to be showcased, and also ensures that visitors get to visit all points of interest in a particular county.
“It has a dual role really,” says Marin.
“It helps counties and local businesses to retain visitors within their own region; it can be shared and distributed digitally to any customer or potential customer and, most importantly now, it is a COVID-friendly tourism product.
“COVID-19 restrictions may have forced many people to adjust their holiday plans this year, making them choose Ireland over sunnier climes but when we take the time, as I have done since arriving in Ireland, to savour the beauty of the landscape and the richness of the culture, Ireland becomes more appealing. It’s all about being creative with your time and becoming familiar with all that lies withing easy reach of your holiday destination.”
Barbara Marin may be Chilean by birth but as she says herself: “I first visited Ireland in 1998 with my then boyfriend, now husband, and moved here fulltime in 2006, and I can now say that I have finally planted my roots and found my place in the world.
“There is no place in the world that has people as friendly; people genuinely care about each other, are chatty and helpful. I have fantastic neighbours that help me with babysitting my kids, pull a calf, give me a lift to town, drop off a rhubarb pie every now and then or are just happy when I call in for a cup of tea (obviously not during COVID-19).
“It’s great that people living in Ireland might, this year, get to savour their home country and all that is wonderful about it and realise that the sun is not always shinier on faraway hills.” she explained.
For more information on Travel Routes Ireland digital magazine, tourism product owners can contact Barbara Marin by email: [email protected]
