ON her return from a trade mission to the Gulf States with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Michael Creed, Elaine Hatton opened the Horse Sport Ireland International Marketing Symposium on Thursday conference with a clear message – there is a high demand for Irish horses that are produced, packaged and marketed correctly.

Hatton, HSI director of International Marketing, revealed the results of a recent HSI survey which showed that international buyers are travelling to Ireland to source event horses (67%), show jumpers (40%) and hunters (31%). Temperament remains the most important factor for those buyers, followed by conformation and rising standards.

“There is resounding want for the Irish horse globally. Ireland is seen as ‘the land of the horse’ in terms of equestrian tourism, but there is a gap that we are not filling in terms of high-end packaged offerings,” she told the packed room.

“We now need to market ourselves and our services in a professional manner. Today’s buyers want more than to be shown a horse, they want an experience and we need to give customer satisfaction,” Hatton added, on a subject that was later driven home in the first session by international riders.

MEDIA RELATIONS

The Team Ireland Equestrian brand are working hard on their media relations in order to gain more exposure for the sport horse industry, securing media rights for news coverage on RTÉ’s Six One, as well as other national broadcasters. In its inaugural year, the New Heights Champion Series, into which HSI have invested €100,000, will be aired on TG4.

In addition to the increased television coverage, Sport for Business recently ranked the Team Ireland Equestrian social media fourth in Ireland, behind three major national sports – the GAA, FAI and Rugby Ireland and ahead of Horse Racing Ireland, which is worth €1 billion to the Irish economy.

“We (in HSI) are ambitious and hopefully that we can turn our industry around and grow interest, participation and trade. We have proven we can produce what the market needs, we must now do it with more consistency and reach out to the global markets. Working together and untied in our efforts we will put a strong case forward for additional funding but in the meantime, we must continue doing what we do best,” Hatton concluded.