Tourism Northern Ireland has won a prestigious marketing award at a presentation in Hillsborough Castle Gardens.

The tourism body and BBDO advertising agency in Dublin were the recipients of the highly coveted `Client Agency Collaboration Award’ at the recent All-Ireland Marketing Awards 2023 (AIM).

Organised by the Marketing Institute of Ireland, the awards recognise the success of Irish marketing professionals and acknowledges their contribution to the ongoing process of strengthening the economy of the island of Ireland.

The `Client Agency Collaboration Award’ is presented jointly to a client/agency based upon their success in generating empathy and trust, bonding around a shared mission, unlocking business potential and triggering exceptional results.

The award submission by Tourism NI and BBDO showed how their collaboration had made a “giant impact” on tourism.

It said: “In 2019, only 6.1% of island of Ireland trips by ROI residents were to Northern Ireland.

“Tourism NI had a very difficult goal – to put Northern Ireland on the holiday map for Republic of Ireland residents. And then came a global pandemic.

“Against all the odds, BBDO Dublin and Tourism NI forged a partnership built upon resilience, resourcefulness and agility, resolving as a team to guide the tourism and hospitality industry through the crisis, and to foster sustained growth.

“The collaboration made a giant impact, with Tourism Northern Ireland achieving its best ever results in the first 9 months of 2022 alone’.

Naomi Waite, Director of Marketing at Tourism NI, said: “We are delighted to win the award for Client Agency Collaboration, in partnership with BBDO Dublin, and to receive this recognition from The Marketing Institute of Ireland.

“Our collaboration with BBDO has resulted in some terrific results, as we have seen in the record visitor numbers coming here from the Republic of Ireland”.

Katie Cunningham, Head of Account Management at BBDO, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have won The Marketing Institute of Ireland AIMS Client Agency Collaboration award along with our partners at Tourism Northern Ireland.

“We are incredibly proud of the results achieved by the work made under this partnership -and of the partnership itself,” she said.

“Huge congratulations and thanks to everyone on Team Tourism Northern Ireland across both Tourism Northern Ireland and BBDO Dublin”.