Gulliver Ireland, the online travel booking engine, has launched a support programme for Irish self-catering properties to stimulate the level of online bookings.
The move is a response to Fáilte Ireland's decision to end inspecting and approving self-catering accommodation itself but it also hopes to address the fact that the sector has one of the lowest rates of online bookings in the tourism industry.
"Just as many people will look at the properties online but it is a difficult purchase proposition," says Dr Stewart Stephens, managing director of Gulliver Ireland.
Because, for example, booking a week in Dingle with your family is a significant event both in terms of cost and importance, many internet users are not comfortable completing the purchase online.
As a result, he believes, self-catering properties need to include richer information and images on their websites.
GoIreland.com, the booking website operated by Gulliver, will shortly start to include reviews of properties from people who have stayed there.
Dr Stephens is keen that the reviews are credible unlike travel review site Tripadvisor.com, which has been accused of containing articles from property owners.
"We do get occasional mischievous reviews so we have to ensure they are fair, or if they are very negative that the property owner has a chance to respond," says Dr Stephens.
Gulliver also plans to publish a guide to the sector, similar to the Holiday Homes which Fáilte Ireland published. All premises featured in it will also be listed on a dedicated self-catering website, www.irelandselfcateringguide. com.
Self-catering bookings through GoIreland.com have increased by 15 per cent in 2007 compared to 2006 and the value of booking is up 20 per cent. Gulliver Ireland now has more than 5,000 small properties on its books.
Separately Tourism Ireland, the body responsible for marketing Ireland overseas, this week launched a marketing campaign in the popular online game, Second Life.
The tourism promotion agency said it was the first marketing campaign launched by a destination or "real world" tourist board in the virtual world of Second Life.
Second Life has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2003 and now has an estimated 1.6 million regular users out of a total membership of over nine million.
Sixty per cent of Second Life's users come from Ireland's four biggest tourist markets - Britain, the US, Germany and France and half are over 30 - a key demographic for the Irish tourist market.
Tourism Ireland is planning a series of events between now and St Patrick's Day in the virtual replica of Dublin which has been created in Dublin.
Events kick off this weekend with the Discover Ireland Festival which will see five bands and seven DJs play on a stage located on the virtual Grafton Street.
