Tourism Ireland Turns to Television Co-Productions to Showcase Ireland to Millions of Overseas Viewers

At a glance

• Tourism Ireland welcomed 3.2 million overseas visitors between January and June 2026, according to its latest overseas tourism update
• The International Programming Ireland Fund has supported more than 70 productions since 2021, investing up to €200,000 per project
• Tourism Ireland says television publicity is a key tool for inspiring future travel to the island of Ireland
• The latest update highlights four UK celebrity-led television series backed by the fund
• Three have aired during 2026, with a fourth Channel 4 series starring Martin and Roman Kemp airing in August

Tourism Ireland is using internationally broadcast television as part of its destination marketing strategy, co-producing celebrity-led travel series fronted by Ronan Keating, Dermot O’Leary, Fred Sirieix and Martin and Roman Kemp. The programmes are primarily reaching audiences in Britain, while its wider production fund also supports content intended for other priority international markets.

The organisation highlighted the programmes in its latest overseas tourism update, published on 30 July, alongside new figures showing Ireland welcomed 3.2 million overseas visitors between January and June 2026, a 15% increase on the same period last year. Overseas visitor spending reached €2.6 billion, up 18%.

Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Alice Mansergh said the latest figures showed that demand remained strong, adding that “two-thirds of our potential visitors still see a holiday as ‘worth it’ and are prioritising meaningful experiences”. She said Tourism Ireland would continue working with industry partners to inspire people to choose Ireland for their next holiday.

Among the announcements in the report was Tourism Ireland’s continued investment in broadcast television. Rather than simply promoting destinations after programmes have aired, the organisation supports productions through its International Programming Ireland Fund, launched in 2021 to help create internationally commissioned factual programming showcasing the island of Ireland. The fund has backed more than 70 productions since its launch.

Among the productions highlighted in the report are four celebrity-led travel series made for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Each uses a different route into Ireland, from personal memories and food to cycling and folklore, allowing Tourism Ireland to showcase the island to distinct sections of the British television audience.

TV Series from 2026

Ronan Keating’s Wild Atlantic began airing on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 6 April 2026. Produced by Derry-based Alleycats TV for BBC Daytime and BBC Northern Ireland, the five-part series follows the Irish singer and former Boyzone frontman as he revisits places associated with his childhood holidays and travels through Cork, Kerry, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal and Derry. Ahead of transmission, Tourism Ireland said the journey would “inspire viewers in Britain to come and experience these wonderful places for themselves”.

Food provides the route through Dermot’s Taste of Ireland, which returned for its second series on ITV1 and ITVX on 2 May 2026. Produced by Rock Oyster Media, it follows British television and radio presenter Dermot O’Leary along the Causeway Coastal Route and Wild Atlantic Way, meeting chefs, producers and coastal communities across Antrim, Derry, Donegal and Sligo. The first series, broadcast in September 2024, reached more than 3.3 million viewers in Britain, according to Tourism Ireland. The organisation has also published online guides enabling viewers to follow the journeys and visit places featured in the programme.

Tour de Fred: Part Deux began airing on ITV1 and ITVX on 10 January 2026. The second series follows French hospitality expert and television presenter Fred Sirieix, known to British viewers as the maître d’ on Channel 4’s dating series First Dates, as he cycles through Wexford, Waterford and Cork. Co-produced by Tourism Ireland with support from Irish Ferries, the programme combines active travel with food, heritage and local encounters. Its first series, which explored Northern Ireland and Donegal, reached around two million viewers across Great Britain in 2025. Tourism Ireland has also developed visitor content inspired by Sirieix’s routes.

Martin and Roman’s Irish Road Trip is a three-part Channel 4 series airing from 10 August. Produced by UK-based Rock Oyster Media, it follows father-and-son duo Martin Kemp, musician, actor and member of Spandau Ballet, and his son, broadcaster and presenter Roman Kemp, as they travel through Antrim, Derry, Tyrone, Cork, Dublin, Kildare and Meath, exploring Ireland’s myths, supernatural traditions, music and sporting culture. Filming took place in January 2026.

Although each programme takes a different editorial approach, they share a common thread: Ireland is experienced through the presenters’ journeys rather than presented on screen as the destination itself. The result is programming that feels like entertainment first, with the tourism message emerging naturally through the experiences and journeys they take.

The Value Beyond the Broadcast

Getting the programmes onto television screens and into people’s living rooms is only one part of the strategy for tourism boards that support TV programmes. The other is the publicity they generate. Television previews, reviews and feature articles inevitably focus on the presenters and the programmes themselves, but they also introduce readers to the landscapes, food, communities, traditions, music, history and experiences featured on screen.

In doing so, they often contain many of the elements of a travel feature, while successful series can also secure standalone travel features of their own, going deeper into the destinations. Together, the programmes and the publicity they generate create another layer of editorial exposure for Tourism Ireland beyond the broadcast itself.

Tourism Ireland has also published destination guides inspired by Dermot’s Taste of Ireland and Tour de Fred. Unlike a standard itinerary, these feel curated through the presenters’ own journeys and so feel more personalised, giving audiences the chance to follow the routes, places and experiences featured on screen. For viewers of the programmes, they provide a practical way to recreate those journeys. For others, the familiar names and TV presenters offer a different way into discovering Ireland than a conventional destination guide.

Taken together, the programmes demonstrate the wider value of long-form factual television for the screen tourism sector: the programme may provide the initial audience, but its locations and journeys can continue generating travel coverage after transmission.

Tourism Ireland’s International Programming Ireland Fund

Launched in 2021, Tourism Ireland’s International Programming Ireland Fund supports internationally commissioned factual television designed to showcase the island of Ireland to overseas audiences. Eligible productions can receive up to €200,000 in funding, covering a maximum of 50% of production costs, and must already have an international broadcaster or distributor attached. More than 70 productions have been supported to date.

According to Tourism Ireland, publicity and broadcasts generated through travel style programmes supported by the fund are a key element of its promotional activity, designed to encourage travellers in Britain and other international markets to put the island of Ireland on their holiday wish list.

Recent productions backed by the fund include:

• Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour (2024) – BBC food and travel series exploring Ireland’s regional food producers, restaurants and culinary traditions.
• Ireland with Michael (2024–present) – PBS travel and culture series presented by Michael Londra, introducing North American audiences to Ireland’s music, heritage and landscapes.
• Ireland’s Wild Islands (2024) – Natural history documentary series for ARTE, Smithsonian Channel, Sky Nature and SVT, showcasing Ireland’s offshore islands and wildlife.
• From That Small Island (2025) – Feature documentary exploring Ireland’s global musical influence through artists including Bono, Hozier and Sinéad O’Connor.
• Golf’s Greatest Holes – The Open Special (2025) – Golf travel documentary showcasing Ireland’s championship links courses and golfing heritage.

Tourism Ireland is not unique in financing television designed to promote a destination, but its on-going, application-based international co-production fund appears to be a relatively distinctive model among national tourism organisations.