524 international conferences and business events worth €212 million to the Irish economy were secured by Fáilte Ireland's business tourism and events team last year.
Final figures for 2019 show a 4% increase from 2018 in business wins, which will help "drive economic growth in Dublin and across the regions", according to Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly.
"Big Business"
Kelly stated, "€47 million of this business has been won for regional Ireland through our work with the Regional Convention Bureaux in Galway, Kerry, Cork and Shannon. These wins will significantly add to and support the work we are doing with industry on the ground, developing tourism and growing revenue and employment across Ireland. Business tourism is big business and is now worth at least €740 million to the Irish economy, directly supporting 20,000 jobs. We have set ambitious targets to grow business tourism during the next five years to bring its value to the Irish economy over the €1 billion mark."
"A Recognised Centre Of Innovation And Excellence"
Meanwhile, Fáilte Ireland's Meet in Ireland manager, Ciara Gallagher, commented, "Securing major international conferences is testament to Ireland's reputation as a top business tourism destination. International business conferences are not only lucrative in terms of generating significant revenue for regions across the country, they also position Ireland as a recognised centre of innovation and excellence. This year, our goal is to build on the success of 2019 and increase Ireland's share of the international business tourism market. We already have over 660 leads for international business events that we are working on converting, which would generate more than €400 million to the economy."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
